Zacharias
by BitiumRibbon
Summary: [Final Fantasy IV] The story of a Black Mage from Mysidia whose life is forever altered when the Water Crystal is taken by Cecil and the Red Wings.
1. Chapter 1

**Foreword:** This story has no particular dedication because I'm not sure where to turn. I have my old friends, and I've made some new. It's been a long time since I last uploaded something new, but I guess I owe this one to the state of writing that I haven't yet managed to capture, yet always seem to find. I bring this story forward as a symbol of my passion and my devotion to my art, although I hope that it lives up to the precedent - whatever that may be - that I have set for myself. I dedicate this to my love for the written word.

* * *

**Zacharias**

_The passion within the soul brings to life the deepest and darkest workings of the purest of hearts,  
Bring forward the light, but hide in the darkness from whence the light has come.  
One day, the true form of justice will consume that darkness and bring truth back to the surface,  
But every legacy must begin with the spark that sets the story aflame._

* * *

Chapter 1

Who am I?

There was a time, not too long ago, when the answer to that question would have been far easier to find. I could have told you without hesitation who I was, where I was from, where I belonged. I could have told you all about myself if I wanted, every detail of the life I used to call my own.

I'm something entirely different now. I can no longer answer that question to the degree that I once thought I could. My life has become an entirely different entity. The world in which I used to live has long since fallen away.

I can tell you my name. My name is Zacharias. After that, the answers become cloudy. If you were to ask me where I am from, I would have no answer. If you were to ask me where I belong, I would have no answer.

If you were to ask why I did what I did, I would pretend to have an answer, but be aware that I really know nothing until I search for myself. I haven't done that yet. I haven't searched within my soul for the roots of my actions.

But before any of it, before the beginning, there was very little distinction between me and those around me, and certainly not as there is now.

The town in which I was born was called Mysidia. It was a quaint little place, home to the foremost masters of wizardry on the face of the planet. Those who wished to achieve greater proficiency in the arts of White or Black Magic would often come to our village wishing to learn from the revered Lord Mages. Of my time, the Lord White Mage was the priestess Ayana Springwater.

The Lord Black Mage was my father.

His name was Rio Shade. He was a man born to weave the threads of Black Magic. His magical prowess came second only to that of the legendary Sage, the great Tellah. But even despite this, one would never meet a more peaceful, tranquil soul than his. Our Elder would often joke that my father was the rare Black Mage that would never harm a fly.

It was true; most of those who sought to become Black Mages came in search of power, enough to strike fear into the hearts of those who opposed them. The Elder would never accept them into tutelage, of course, nor would my father. The Mysidian creed forbade such things. Magic, it dictated, was to be used in the pursuit of human aid, either to heal those wounded by evil or to defend against it.

Our village was thus among the most peaceful. We were the faithful guardians of the Water Crystal, the professors of Magic, and a haven of spiritual healing.

As a fifteen-year-old student of Black Magic, I was naturally due to a level of frustration with this system.

"How many times must I teach you this lesson, Zacharias?" said the patron wizard to me. "Your powers are to be used in the pursuit of peace!"

I sat in a hard-backed wooden chair, my arms crossed across my robe-covered front, my pointed hat sitting atop the patron's desk. "It wasn't my fault," I said bitterly. "He was asking for it."

The patron threw his hands up in the air. "He asked for it. Tell me, at what point did you hear him say 'please turn me into a toad'?"

I rolled my eyes. "He's an arrogant brat. He had it coming."

"He's also apprentice to the Lord Black Mage!" The patron sat down and sighed. "Zacharias, you're going to have to find other ways of expressing your anger. Your magical powers aren't the answer."

I shot him a scowl. "Can I help feeling ridiculous? The Lord Black Mage is my father, and his upstart apprentice has the nerve to talk down to me as if he's better than I am!"

"This is not a competition. You know the Mysidian law. A Mage cannot take his own young in apprenticeship." He paused, sitting back in his chair. "I want you to apologize to the boy, at the very least. You'll be lucky if you don't get a sentence of Silence for this."

I nodded grimly. "Fine."

The patron sat forward again, glancing out the door. "Palom? Come in, please."

I tried my best not to look at him as he walked in, but I could still picture the triumphant look on his face. He and his twin sister Porom were several years younger than myself, but were unnaturally talented – even I could admit that, however reluctantly – and had earned themselves the coveted apprenticeships of the Lord Mages. I didn't mind Porom, but her brother hadn't learned the same lessons of humility that she had.

I finally looked at him. His somewhat long hair was tied back in its usual stub of a ponytail, and he was wearing the red robes and green cloak of his apprentice garb. He also sported an expression of false sadness, doing an excellent job of hiding the leering grin he wanted to shoot at me. I thought he looked better as a toad.

The patron glanced at me and cleared his throat, and I sighed deeply. "I'm sorry I turned you into a toad, Palom," I said, my voice dripping with insincerity.

The little monster caught on, of course. "He didn't mean that," he said to the patron.

It was such a childish thing to say that I had to laugh. The patron didn't look very amused, though. "Zacharias…" he said warningly.

I held up my hands in surrender. "But sir, I assure you I did mean that. I'm truly sorry that I turned Palom into a toad." I let that sink in for a moment before I continued. "I mean, looking back on the situation now, I can honestly say that he'd have been better off as a pig."

"Hey!" Palom said angrily. The patron shot me a look.

"Well, think about it," I continued. "The word 'pig' has so many different connotations. You could call someone a fat pig, or a greedy pig, or a chauvinist pig, or an arrogant pig… there are so many possibilities there, much more appropriate. There are barely any for the word 'toad.' And I also think…"

"That's enough!" said the patron, standing. Palom scowled at me, his complexion nearly matching that of a ripe tomato. I dropped my philosophical demeanor and crossed my arms once more, satisfied that even if I did get a sentence of Silence, my last words had been worth saying.

The patron sighed again, and turned to Palom. "You may leave now. Please ask Priestess Springwater for a moment of her time."

Palom reluctantly left the room, still scowling at me. The patron sat down behind his desk, his forehead in his hand. "Zacharias... I just don't know what to do with you anymore."

"You could stop treating me like a child, for a start," I said darkly.

"The minute you stop acting like one, I will! It isn't my fault you're still in lessons with the younger students and I am not the one holding you back. If you ever want to become a great wizard like your father, you must gain control of your temper!"

He closed his eyes, calming himself. I was glaring at him, but on some level I'm sure I was satisfied that my short fuse seemed to be rubbing off on him.

It wasn't long before he opened his eyes and met my gaze. "I'm leaving this matter in Priestess Springwater's hands. For your sake, I hope she shows you more sympathy than you've shown Palom."

I looked down at my arms for a second, and then chuckled. "Why bother? You know we're just going to end up here again."

"That, my boy," he replied wearily, "depends entirely on you."

The time we spent waiting for the Lord White Mage to arrive seemed endless, but mostly because I couldn't stop thinking. Somewhere in my mind, I knew the patron was right.

I just didn't want to admit it.

* * *

I'd become somewhat accustomed to the ritual of a sentence of Silence. It was simple, really. Under the influence of a rudimentary Silence spell, one can't even speak, let alone cast magic spells. It was a typical punishment for children. 

But I was no longer a child, and so the continued sentences of Silence were becoming irksome to me. It seemed that nobody wished to acknowledge my age... or my abilities, for that matter.

However, it provided me with an excellent opportunity to indulge in the solitude from which I took comfort. I had long since learned to counter the spell, but given my habitual isolation it was impossible to tell the difference. That particular night found me in my small room in my home, browsing through the pages of my favourite books.

My father hadn't returned. His responsibilities to Mysidia often kept him at the village hall until very late at night. This was a somewhat recent development, though; when my mother was still alive, he'd rarely be away from home past the dark hours. But that had been four years previously – ancient history for someone of my age. By this time I was accustomed to the nights spent alone in my small home.

I was unlike other wizards my age, though. Most, given the circumstances I was in, would have spent their time making much more mischief than I ever had. But I wasn't like that. Even before my mother died, I had been fonder of reading a book than playing with the other children of the village. I learned my lessons just the same. I learned them from the stories – fiction and non-fiction alike – that would send me to sleep. They were the same stories back then as I was now reading under my quasi-fictitious punishment.

Stories about the Dragoons.

The ultimate guardians of justice and fairness. The legendary knights who could soar through the skies like the dragons that guided their aims. I'd always found myself captivated by the tales of famous dragon warriors, dispensing the greatest justice throughout the world. It was said that the great king of all dragons, Bahamut, bestowed his powers upon the very first Dragoon, lending his own claw to the fight for order.

I delved even deeper into the Dragonian legends after my mother died. When a child's mother passes away, he tends to turn to the closest source of comfort he can find. For me, it was the Dragoons' tales and their lessons of justice, fairness. I began to seek out justice… fight for it. Even at an age where I could barely distinguish between the various lessons my life had to offer, or between right and wrong, I was granted the comfort of a very real goal.

I suppose that goal, combined with my inescapable desire to please my father and perhaps win back his lost affections, was what lured me to the art of Black Magic. The rest, as they say, is history, a story very similar to that which led to the embarrassing incident between Palom and I.

Of course, it was only the consequences that made the situation embarrassing.

That night, I leafed through the pages of my books as usual. I had chosen my personal favourite, about the noble Dragoon clans of the last century. The clans still existed in my youth, of course, but their numbers had become few and far between. I enjoyed reading about the glory of the past, of the reign of great Dragoon masters such as Regent Abramm of the Windfang Clan. They were honourable men and women. A Dragoon under the Regent Abramm could pledge his or her allegiance to the pursuit of justice or to the protection of the Windfang Clan – only one. Not both. The Regent believed that one could only fully serve a master by setting any other duties aside and devoting yourself to the fulfillment of only one.

It was a high standard to live by. I suppose that's what made it so interesting for me.

I was pulled out of my thoughts that evening by a familiar knock on my window. I turned to see who it was and I was greeted by the sight of Melody, a student of white magic and a long-time friend – one of the few I had. I smiled at her, crossing the room and opening the window.

"Another sentence of Silence?" she asked as she climbed through it.

I nodded. "They don't seem to get tired of them."

"Neither do you," she replied, and I scowled at her. "What?" she said defensively. "It doesn't seem difficult to keep your magic in check. What did you do this time?"

I chuckled to myself. "Nothing special. That Palom kid was getting on my nerves, so I turned him into a toad."

She glared at me, but I could tell she was trying hard not to laugh. "It's not funny," she finally said, regaining control of herself. "It's childish."

"I know. After I did it, I had second thoughts. I should have turned him into a pig instead."

This time a chuckle did escape her unwilling lips, and she soon burst out laughing. "You're horrible, you know that?"

I eyed her approvingly. "At least someone thinks it's funny. The patron wasn't too happy with me."

The smile disappeared. "What? Zach, you mouthed off to the patron?"

"In a manner of speaking."

She groaned. "You never learn."

I turned away, sitting on my bed once more. "I just got a lecture today from the patron. I don't need one from you. Now, are we going to practice tonight or what?"

Our 'practice' was a special brand of magic I'd been experimenting with. I had been attempting lately, out of my admiration of the Dragoon kind, to find a way to become more like the knights I read about. I wanted to leap among the clouds as they did, but for a young Black Mage like myself, this was a difficult feat to achieve. It was Melody who had suggested, albeit jokingly, that the White Magic spell Float could help me achieve the height that the Dragoons could. She hadn't expected me to take her suggestion seriously, of course, which was why she'd been so reluctant to teach me. Suffice it to say I'd managed to persuade her, and we had since practiced nearly every night.

Melody sighed. "Yes, of course we'll practice." She crossed the room and sat on the bed next to me while I placed my books on the small table nearby.

Smoothing her white and red robes, she focused on the small pile of books and then closed her eyes, raising her hands toward them. A short pause, and then the books rose from the table, bathed in a dim, blue light. They rose higher and higher, nearly reaching the ceiling, until she brought them back down to the wooden surface and opened her eyes. The blue light vanished.

I had been watching intently, as usual. When the books settled, I closed my own eyes and extended my hands toward the books. I channeled the spell as I had learned, putting all of my effort into lifting the books. I seldom managed even to make the books move. It had frustrating to attempt the magic week after week with little or no result.

But today, I heard Melody speak. "They're moving, Zach!"

Upon hearing this, and eager to see what I had performed, I opened my eyes. I was greeted with a very soft thud as the books returned to the surface of the table, presumably from only a millimetre in height above it. I groaned.

So did Melody. "Zach! Why did you open your eyes?"

I sighed. White Magic was very difficult for a Black Mage to learn. The two styles involved very different practices. While a Black Mage had only to visualize the end result of his endeavors, White Magic involved an element of prayer. A White Mage, in order to properly cast the spell, had to be in tune with the magical workings of her soul, and the magic itself required a motive. To cast the Float spell, I had to understand why I wanted to make the books float, and I had to focus less on the end result and more on the task of asking the spell to perform.

I wasn't a very submissive person to begin with, so the process was difficult.

But I'd made progress this time.

Melody looked at the books. "You almost did it, Zach. The books were moving. Why did you open your eyes?"

"I... I just wanted to see if it was really working."

She shook her head. "Trust yourself, Zach! If you succeed, the magic will show your mind what you have done. If you look, it will be taken away. You have to trust in the magic."

"I guess." I looked at her again. "I was doing everything else right, though. I knew why I wanted to lift the books."

"And why was that?"

I paused. "Because I want to be like the Dragoons."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Why do you want to be like the Dragoons?"

I looked from her to the books and back again. "Do you mean my reason wasn't good enough?"

"Just tell me," she said. "Why do you want to be like the Dragoons?"

I considered that. "Because... because I admire them."

"Why?"

I bristled, but continued. "Because they're strong."

"Why?"

"Oh, come on," I said, exasperated. "This is getting ridiculous."

"There's a reason for all this," she said. "Just answer my question. Why are they strong?"

I sighed again. "Because they have to fight."

"Why?"

"Because they... because they fight the world's evils."

She smiled. "Why?"

"Because... they... stand for justice."

She nodded. "Right. So, why do you want to lift the books?"

We stared into each other's eyes for a few moments as I tried to understand what she was saying. Then, hesitantly, I closed my eyes, extending my hands to the books once again. I channeled the spell. I prayed for the magic to work. I thought hard. "I stand for justice," I thought. "I need the books to float because I stand for justice."

I heard Melody's audible gasp, but soon I wasn't paying attention to her anymore.

My mind was suddenly flooded by light. My closed eyes saw blue light, but not in any random shape. I saw the books sitting upon the table, etched in blue in the darkness of my mind. Then, out of nowhere, a pair of wings thrust out from underneath the books, and they reached out to either side, beginning to rise and fall.

The wings lifted the books of my mind into the air.

"Zach..." I heard Melody say, and I looked at her, my eyes still closed. There she was, etched in the same blue of my mind. It was as if she was made of blue fire... it was beautiful.

I returned my attention to the books, mentally willing them to return to the tabletop. I watched the wings bring them lower and lower, halting at the wooden surface. They disappeared, and all that was left was the small pile of books. I opened my eyes and there they were, sitting exactly where my mind had placed them.

When I looked at Melody again, she was beaming. "I knew you could do it, Zach."

I laughed briefly. "I... wow. That was amazing."

"Feels good, doesn't it?" She looked at the books. "When you were thinking about the Dragoons, you were thinking about becoming like them. Your mind was filled with a personal goal. When you thought and believed in justice, the magic responded."

"Because justice is..."

"Justice serves the world," she said. "To be like the Dragoons would serve you. To pursue justice is a goal honourable by the White Magic."

"I..." I was still somewhat speechless at my accomplishment. "I can't believe I did that."

"Nor can I."

I yelped in surprise and turned to the door to my bedroom. Standing in the darkness was my father, the Lord Black Mage, Rio Shade. "Father!" I said. "This is... this isn't what it..."

"I know what I have seen, Zacharias," he said angrily, advancing toward us. Melody and I stood, backing away from him. "You've been practicing White Magic without the Elder's approval... without _my _approval!"

"Father, I can explain..."

"There is no need for explanations." He sighed, quivering. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for a mage untrained in even one of the magical arts to attempt to learn a second? Do you have _any _idea of the consequences--"

"Please, my Lord!" said Melody. "He's learned well! He--"

"Now is not the time, young White Mage," he shot at her.

"Leave her alone!" I yelled. "It was my idea. Leave her out of this!"

My father paused beforer speaking again to Melody. "I will be speaking to your mentor in due time, young lady. Now, go home."

Melody shot a worried glance at me before hastily leaving the room. We heard her hurried footsteps crossing the small house and walking out the door.

My father turned back to me, heaving another sigh and sitting down on the bed. He removed his large, pointed hat, setting free his long, unruly black hair and revealing his rough, scarred face and rough stubble. He rested his forehead on his palm. "Zacharias... you've really done it to me this time."

I crossed my arms, scowling. "What's the big deal? So I learned one spell on my own!"

"I... I applaud your efforts, but you have no idea how dangerous it is to cast Magic from the other side of the spectrum. Your mind - your soul - could have been in serious danger!"

"But I did it, and I'm fine."

He stood angrily. "But what if something had happened? What then, Zacharias? You're still a novice mage!"

I stumbled back, stung. "I am not! They've been holding me back! I've already learned the second tier spells!"

He stared at me. "You've been learning other Magic on your own as well? Without assistance? What have you been thinking?"

"I've been doing what I'm ready to do! You, the patron, _nobody _gives me enough credit, nobody thinks I'm capable of anything! It's not fair!"

"You are putting yourself in very real danger! I don't want to lose you like I lost--"

He broke off, his words sinking into the tense atmosphere that had been cultivated in the room. He stared at me, and I stared back at him. My heart felt heavy, and my pulse was racing. The room was far too silent. We kept staring at each otheer, myself a miniature version of him, dressed in the blue robes of our kind.

Then my father shook his head, retrieving his hat. "I must tell the Elder and the Priestess of this. Then we shall decide what is to be done with you."

"The Elder?" I started to feel panic. "Father, please don't! He'll take away... He'll make me... Father, I won't ever be able to use Magic again!"

"If you must be without Magic to be safe and behaved, then so be it. I will not lose you to your carelessness!" He began to walk out the door, headed out of the house.

I followed him, grabbing my own hat to defend against the chilly night air. "Father, please!" I called after him, hearing the door open and slam shut. I ran outside, pulling on my hat and trying to catch up with him. "Father, don't do this! I will be responsible! I just want to make you proud of me!"

"Then you'd have done as you were told!" he shot back, starting up the stairs to the village hall. "The Elder will decide what to do with you. It is out of my hands now!"

I hurried after him, not noticing the dark shadows crossing the ground behind me. "But I'm your son! I want to live your legacy! Please, just give me one more chance!"

We were inside the hall now, and he turned to glower at me. "I have given you more chances than you know! The only reason you've still been allowed to study at the school of Black Magic is that I have fought for you! And every time, you have disappointed me and kept yourself behind! I cannot keep doing this!"

I was stunned. "You... you've been fighting to… but why didn't you tell me?"

There was a long silence as the question sank into the tense air. We both knew the answer, but neither one of us wanted to say it aloud. I was quivering, both with fear and anger. My father's steely eyes punctuated what little willpower I had.

But I spoke again. "I… I only wanted you to be proud of me."

For a moment, the look on his face changed. It seemed almost as if it softened, though I knew my father well enough to know how hard it was to find softness in his features.

Then he turned again, storming angrily into the village hall. I followed him, my protests still falling on deaf ears. I watched as my father glanced around, and when he didn't see the elder in the main chamber, he started up the stairs to the Crystal room. I remember how desperate I felt just then. I remember how shattered I was, how panicked at the very notion of having my magical abilities stripped from me after I'd worked so hard to cultivate and expand them. I felt afraid, I felt angry… and at the same time, I felt utterly helpless to do anything about it.

Still trying to change my father's mind, I could do little but follow him into the Crystal room. The Elder turned from his contemplation of the Crystal and looked down on the kneeling Lord Black Mage in wonder. "Lord Rio, my friend, what brings you back so soon?" Then he looked beyond him to me, and a less neutral look crossed his wise, old face. "Oh, I see."

I met the Elder's eye for several seconds before I knelt as well, averting my eyes, which were beginning to water.

"I have done everything I can," my father said, still on one knee. "You have… you have been right all this time. Zacharias is no longer fit to study Black Magic."

The Elder sighed. "Stand up, both of you." I stood obligingly, but I still couldn't meet his eyes. "We have already discussed this matter several times, and every time, Rio, you were steadfast that your son deserved yet another chance to redeem himself. What has brought about this change of heart?"

"He has—"

"Father, wait!" I said, and finally met the Elder's eye. He looked sternly upon me, but his gaze told me I had permission to speak. "I'd… I'd like to explain myself."

My father looked as if he wanted to say something more, but he thought better of it, crossing his arms and waiting impatiently for me to speak.

It occurred to me then that I didn't know what to say. I took a deep breath and started. "I... I have--"

"Elder!!"

I turned to the intruding voice. It belonged to the Priestess Ayana Springwater, who was running frantically up the stairs to the Crystal Room. "Elder! We're under attack!"

Within seconds, it was as if I no longer existed. The Elder hurried past me to the Priestess' side. "Calmness, Ayana. Monsters?"

"No! Soldiers from Baron!"

It was as if a bomb had exploded in the room. I looked at my father, but he had changed; he was no longer my father. He was the Lord Black Mage, sworn to protect the citizens of Mysidia from any threat. There was a dark look on his face, one that frightened me. It was a side of him I had never seen before, and despite my anger at him and my fear of the situation at hand, I felt a sudden sensation of pride.

"Why have they come?" my father said.

"I don't know! I think they want the Crystal!"

"How many are there?"

"Five of their airships landed outside the village! They are here in overwhelming numbers!"

They both looked at the Elder, as did I. He stared at the crystalline floor gravely. "The Red Wings."

"We must prepare a counterattack!"

"It's too late for that, Rio! They'll reach this hall at any moment!" The Priestess hurried to the Elder's side. "What shall we do, Elder?"

The Elder was mute for several long moments. In the silence, I could clearly hear the shouting of the Baronian soldiers, the screams of my fellow Mysidian citizens. In the distant darkness, I could see the unmistakeable glow of flames.

They were burning the village.

I clenched my fists. Tears stung my eyes, but I willed them away. I pushed my fear to the depths of my heart, covered by my anger. My hands trembled. My eyes began to glow.

"Father!" I said, racing to his side. "Let me help you defend the Crystal!"

Instantly, the exterior I'd had such difficulty recognizing transformed back into my father as he realized I was still there. "Zacharias! Why haven't you run?!"

"What? But I--"

"_Run_, Zacharias! Hide in the top of the Tower of Prayers! You must hurry!"

"But I can help!"

He shook his head frantically. "There is no time for this!"

"Then let me help you!!"

"Zach--"

That was all he could say before the floor began to rumble with the steps of a dozen soldiers. Instinctively I backed up, finding myself to the left of the Priestess, and my father did the same, standing on her other side. It wasn't until that moment that I started to have doubts, but I clenched my fists resolutely. They were coming.

Four soldiers ran in, swords drawn. From the rear, I heard another yell a command to them. As they advanced on us, my father leapt into action. The entire room was bathed in bright green light, and just as suddenly there was a blast of ice from his outstretched palm. The soldiers stopped running, the cold invading every inch of their bodies. They fell, shattering upon impact with the otherwise unperturbed glass of the floor.

Two more burst in before he had time to recover. They drew their own swords and ran straight toward him. "Father!" I cried, and acting purely out of instinct, felt my own magical power welling up within me. My eyes shone fiercely and my body took over as I fiercely let loose the second tier Bolt spell. The lightning charged from my outstretched fingers and blasted the two intruders from their feet, the magically-charged voltage coursing through their veins. It wasn't until they fell that I realized I was screaming.

I finally relaxed my arms, eyeing the damage I had done. My father looked at me in a way he never had before. He looked at me as if I had become someone else. He looked at me as if he didn't recognize me anymore. I didn't know what to think.

I heard another command from beyond the advancing ranks of Baron's soldiers, and I returned my attention to what was going on. Four more soldiers marched in, but they didn't advance the way the others had. They just stood there, swords at the ready, waiting.

Finally, their leader walked in. He wore armour darker than any metal I had ever seen before. His face was entirely shrouded by his dark helmet. His dark shield bore what I assumed was the Baronian crest. Even the sword he carried at his belt was dark. He was living darkness.

A dark knight.

There was a sudden stillness in the room. The enemies stood poised with their swords at the ready. My father and I prepared our spells, ready for anything. The Priestess readied her own Magic, prepared to heal us should the need arise. The elder continued to look at the glass floor; he hadn't moved an inch.

Finally, the dark knight spoke. "I have come for the Crystal, old man."

The Elder looked up at him. "I sense great darkness in your soul. The Crystal is a beacon of light. Someone such as you must not possess it."

"Strong words for a weak man in a weak position. I had hoped to be civil about this."

"As had I. Yet you seem to have begun on a path that puts both of us beyond civility. How many innocent people will you kill to see your aims through?"

"There are no innocents," said the knight. "Your possession of that Crystal presents a danger to the kingdom of Baron. There are only disobedient subordinates, and at the moment there are four standing in my way."

I felt an overwhelming sense of fury as I stared at the man in dark armour. His cold demeanor and calm, efficient ruthlessness was too terrible for me to bear. I felt my fists clench once more, but this time I wasn't striving for confidence. This time, my fury was in control.

For the first time in my life, I saw anger flash across my Elder's face. "As long as I stand, the Crystal shall never fall into hands as evil as yours."

The dark knight laughed. "That makes little difference. You will kneel soon enough."

I had had enough. "You won't get away with this!" I yelled, not pausing to think about what I was saying.

"Zacharias! Don't!"

The helmet swiveled toward me, and the invisible eyes within stared, no doubt, in curiosity and amusement. "Even the young of this village are upstarts, I see. I will be taking the Crystal with me, whether you like it or not."

"Over my dead body!"

He chuckled. "If necessary, that can be arranged."

Immediately and unexpectedly, two soldiers rushed forward, swords raised.

I remember that moment. I knew I wasn't ready. I knew I couldn't be ready. I had been swallowed up in my anger and didn't realize how much was at stake in my words. Time seemed to slow down for the few seconds it took for them to close the short gap between us. I remember the gleam of their blades, the fierce looks in their eyes. I remember that, for the first time, I felt sure that I was going to die. The blazing fires in the distance faded from my vision, as did the screams echoing from the village. The fire in my own eyes felt as if it was dimming. I tried to raise my hands and cast a spell, anything that might protect me, but they were sluggish and wouldn't respond. Perhaps they knew as I did that it was already too late.

I didn't even hear my father cry out.

All I saw was a flash of a blue robe in front of me, the piercing sound of metal tearing cloth. I saw the pointed hat fly to the ground, the unruly black hair tossed every which way as he fell to the floor. I'm sure I screamed as the reality struck me, but I didn't hear myself. I couldn't hear anything besides the beating of my own heart. It seemed to last forever, from the moment he dove in front of me to the moment he struck the crystalline floor, the red of his blood slowly seeping from the wounds in his chest onto the glass surface.

The cries that came from my throat and those of the Priestess and the Elder were nearly in unison.

"Lord Rio!"

"You monster!"

"_Father!!_"

I dove down to his side. The two soldiers returned to their positions, the looks on their faces a mix of steely aggression and reluctant pity. I was barely paying attention to them, though. I could barely see through the tears that were beginning to flood my eyes. I rolled my father onto his back, clutching the fabric of his robe. "Father! Father, wake up! Please!"

There came no reply. His eyes were open, but they stared sightlessly at the ceiling high above him. His mouth was ajar, but stained red within by his blood. My hat fell as I buried my face in his robes, my tears saturating the familiar, comforting fabric. But the comfort was gone; the body within the fabric held no more life in it than the sharp blades that had pierced it.

My father, the Lord Black Mage Rio Shade, was dead.

The yellow fire blazed in my eyes once more as I looked up at the dark knight. The Priestess raised her hands toward my father, preparing her own magic. I could barely hear what was going on. I didn't hear the words spoken by the dark knight. All I could do was see, and I saw the two soldiers charge again, this time toward her. I remember the blast of flame that erupted from my fingertips, arching between the Priestess and the advancing soldiers, forcing them to fall back.

My hearing returned to me as I stood between them, following the path of my second tier Fire spell. I heard the dark knight speak to me. "This resistance is futile, young Black Mage. I've sworn to take the Water Crystal from this village for the sake of my kingdom and all others. Your father has already given his life to save yours. Would you spit on his memory in such a way by nevertheless meeting your end?"

I looked at my father once more, the tears wiped away by my rage, my feeling of absolute hatred. "You've killed my father. He'd still be alive if you hadn't come here to spill innocent blood!"

The knight bowed his head. For a few long moments, he was silent. It was almost as if he was pondering something. But he soon raised his head once more, and spoke the words that would have struck absolute terror into my heart if there had been any room left for fear.

"Kill him."

The soldiers raised their swords. I raised my hands. Again, time seemed to flow in slow motion. Once again, I saw the evil ends of their bloodstained swords, but this time I wasn't afraid. This time, I couldn't have cared less whether or not I survived. The Lord Black Mage was dead. My father had been killed. My village was burning. My life was already over. It seemed fitting to make it official.

Because I fought for justice.

All I remember was the roar of the soldiers, the deep darkness of the knight's invisible eyes, the scream from Priestess Ayana Springwater's throat, and the cries flying from my own as I channeled my magical power once again.

The metal swords tore through the fabric of my robes.

The world turned white.


	2. Chapter 2

**Zacharias**

_The flash of a life ended far too soon, the struggle of one born anew  
That he might embrace the beginning of the end, or perhaps merely the end of the beginning  
And find within himself the strength of heart to endure the most gruelling of tasks:  
Holding at bay the tears that mourn the loss of one much beloved._

* * *

Chapter 2

It felt as if only seconds had passed before the flash of white faded, but as my eyes crept open and I attempted to lift my head, I knew it must have been much longer than that. I could feel the remains of what must have been either a deep sleep or a coma – I couldn't tell which. I couldn't move my head; my eyes glanced in every direction they could. I was still wearing my blue robe. My hat was nowhere in sight. I could see nothing but the border of a small forest and beyond it, the sheer cliffs of a mountain range.

What was I doing here? I couldn't remember… but where _was _here? I closed my eyes once more, trying to call my memories from their dormant state. The last thing I could recall was the flash of white light, and try as I might, nothing else would surface. I moved my hand to my forehead; the surface felt matted, dirty. I rubbed it, pulled my fingers away, examined them. Something red… blood? My blood?

It was then that I felt the sharp pain near my stomach, and I winced, instinctively clutching the offending spot. I noticed it then. The tear in the front of my robes. I felt beyond it, winced as my fingers touched the spot from whence the pain had come. It was a small wound, but felt deep. A wound from some sort of blade, a sword…

I gasped audibly. A sword!

Memories flooded through my mind like a tidal wave. The argument with my father about my experiments with White Magic. The looming shadow of the Baronian army, and the trembles of the unprepared Mysidian soil at their feet. The looming flames, rising to meet the night sky and painting the likeness of an evil sunset across the clouds. My father's body, lying on the otherwise pristine floor, his robes stained by his own blood, his eyes lifeless and cold.

I felt the tears begin to flow, streaming back from my eyes, into my hair, and down to the ground upon which I lay, dampening the dirt. Try as I might, I couldn't push the horrible image from the surface of my mind: my own father's death at the hands of that cruel dark knight.

With some difficulty, I sat upright, the pain making my head spin. I dared not turn around for fear of further disorientation, but the scenery I could see was unfamiliar. It seemed I was surrounded by steep, intimidating mountains, with the odd cluster of trees here and there. In the distance I could see the mouth of a dark cavern, although I could barely make it out through the thick mist that surrounded it.

I thought once again about the dark knight. My features contorted as I remembered him. Armour as black as the heart encased within it, a voice that struck terror into those around him, invisible eyes that seemed nonetheless to penetrate the very consciousness. How a man could care so little for the countless lives he would so easily destroy was beyond my comprehension, and at that moment I didn't care about his motivation or the blackness of his soul. Tears continued to fall from my eyes, but the expression on my face had changed from one of sorrow to another of all-consuming rage. I would get my bearings, go to the hated kingdom of Baron and procure my revenge against the dark knight.

It was in this state of emotional instability that I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Hello?"

I jumped, startled uncharacteristically by the intruding presence. I jerked my head around so quickly it began to spin. The one responsible for the outburst backed away quickly in fear, although it took me several moments to regain enough composure to look.

It was a young girl. She was pale-skinned, but that was perhaps her least remarkable feature. I couldn't help but stare at her clothing, which was brightly coloured and very oddly fashioned, and her hair, which was a vibrant green colour and was held in place with an ornate clip.

She was trembling. An unusual child. Frightened enough to quiver, but brave enough to remain nearby, a mere few feet away. Looking past her, I saw the thatched roofs and chimney smoke of a village. From what I could see, it was small and quaint… truth be told, it looked far too innocent to harbour my malicious thoughts. The girl herself, however, seemed too curious to be as innocent as her surroundings.

It didn't take her long to revive her boldness. "W-who are you?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but it took me several moments to remember the answer to her question, and consequently no sound escaped my lips. The girl tilted her head curiously. "Do you talk?"

"Zacharias," I finally managed. "My name is Zacharias."

She looked content, if a little surprised. "That's a funny name. I'm Rydia."

I was barely paying attention to her; my head began to pound again, and I rubbed it tenderly with my left hand as I leaned heavily on my right. My voice was raspy as I spoke. "Where am I?"

The girl named Rydia laughed. "You don't know where you are? That's silly of you."

"I… what?"

"How did you get here? Did you come through the Misty Valley? I thought Mommy's dragon was guarding it."

I shook my head, regretting the motion seconds later as pain shot through my skull. "I don't know how I got here. If you'd just tell me…"

"You don't even know how you got here? That's funny. Where did you come from?"

My thoughts at that moment were becoming increasingly homicidal as I tried to decide whether I'd ever before met such an annoying little girl. Fortunately for her, however, before I opened my mouth to speak my mind there came a call from the village. "Rydia? Rydia, darling, where are you?"

The girl turned away. "I'm over here, Mom! There's a stranger here!"

It wasn't long before the woman appeared from behind a cluster of trees near the smallest of the homesteads. She was tall and very thin. She wore a delicate yellow sundress, and her hair was as vibrant a colour of red as her daughter's was green. She looked around for several seconds before she spotted Rydia and began to walk over. "Now, Rydia, I'm sure the stranger has important things to do this morning." She reached us and put an arm around her daughter, giving me an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. She's a very curious girl."

Not exactly the word I'd have used, but accurate nonetheless. With some effort, I shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Don't worry about it. But I'm not sure where I am…"

"Silly, isn't it, Mommy?" said Rydia.

The woman shushed her gently and turned back to me, kneeling. "What happened? Are you lost?"

I shook my head, and then winced once again at the subsequent pain. "I'm really not sure what happened. One minute I was…" I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. "One minute I was at home, and then everything turned white, and then I woke up here."

She put a hand to her mouth. "My goodness. Are you hurt?"

I winced again, putting a hand to my forehead. "I'll manage."

"Where is your home?"

I brushed some stray hair from my face. "I'm a Black Mage from Mysidia."

"Mysidia?" she repeated, a look of concern passing across her features. "That's certainly a long way from here. This is the village of Mist. I'm not sure whether you'd have heard of us."

_Mist?_ I thought, though for a moment I said nothing. I dared not say what I was thinking. I did know of the village, likely far more than she'd have expected. The people of Mist were rumoured to be practitioners of the long forgotten magic of Summoning. But those were, after all, only rumours, and there was little reason to betray my thoughts before such an act was necessary.

Instead, I shrugged again. "The name is familiar, but nothing else."

"Do you know of Baron?"

To this day, I am unable to describe the exact expression on my face, but it bore such hostility that the woman shrank back slightly. It was some time before I regained control of myself, though I suspect the damage was already done. "'Baron,' you said?"

The woman looked both confused and somewhat wary, but she answered. "Yes, the kingdom just south of here. Is something wrong?"

I thought for a moment before I answered her. "How can I get there?"

"Well… I suppose the fastest way would be through the Misty Valley to the west, but— Wait! Where are you going?"

I had turned away from her and begun to stand, gritting my teeth against the pain in my abdomen. "I'm going to… to Baron."

"But you're hurt!"

"I told you, I'll manage!" I said, though through the blinding pain my voice escaped my lips as nothing more than a whisper. I finally stood upright, sweat beading on my forehead. I willed myself to feel no pain as I began to step forward. I fought my way through two complete steps before I doubled over, the pain finally becoming too much to endure.

The woman was at my side in a moment. "You mustn't exert yourself! And you— Oh, my goodness!"

She had discovered the wound left behind from the soldiers' swords. She knelt and examined it, her face creasing with concern. "This is very deep! It's a miracle it wasn't any worse!" She stood, moving to put my arm over her shoulder. "Come, we must get you back to the village and into bed."

"I'm… f-fine…" I grunted. "This doesn't… concern you…"

"I don't care why you want to go to Baron, but if you were to try and make it through the Misty Valley in a state like this, you wouldn't get very far." She looked to her daughter. "Rydia, run and make your bed, and put some water on to boil."

The girl ran off, and I finally gave in, grateful for the added support. I leaned heavily on Rydia's mother, and together we began to walk toward the border of the village. Through the sweat pouring down my forehead, I looked at her. "Th-thank you, ma'am," I said.

She smiled. "There's no need. And my name is Allana."

"I'm… I'm Zacharias."

She looked at me, gently and warmly, and for the first time I saw her as the mother she truly was. For an instant, I was reminded of my own mother.

A tear formed in my eye as we stumbled along toward the little village of Mist.

* * *

What I remember most about that night was how very little of it I spent asleep. I was weary, and I longed to drift away from the harsh reality that was my consciousness, but the nightmares came too quickly. They consumed me, attacked me, and left me feeling weak, helpless, and utterly stricken with grief. 

I wonder every so often whether the nightmares ever really left, or whether I just learned to live with them and forget them… it's almost as if they never happened, and yet what I remember of that night in the village was proof enough that they hindered my ability to rest. I think on it every so often – where I am now, I find that I have plenty of time to think – and I have come to the conclusion that the human mind is both our greatest asset and our greatest hindrance. It allows us to expand and explore, to both create and destroy, and has given us the power to shape the very land upon which we live, grow and prosper. Yet, in times of great duress, it is the mind that fights our very well-being, the mind which delves into the deepest, darkest parts of our consciousness and brings forth that which we do not want to see.

I remember the fading image of my father's dying face fading slowly from my vision the first time I awoke that night. The second time, I was left with the bright flames reaching to the night sky. The third, my own cries of grief and terror resonated in my ears.

I subsequently abandoned the prospect of sleep, knowing it was a futile exercise. I sat in the bed staring straight out the window at the rest of the moonlit village. I didn't move a muscle. For a while I tried to forget what was on my mind. I thought about the pain in my abdomen, despite the medicine and the bandage that Allana had applied to it. When that didn't work, I thought about the pain in my head. But nothing could effectively distract me.

It started as I thought about how I had come to be there. What could possibly have sent me so very far away? I very highly doubted that it had been the work of my own magic, although there had been stories told of wizards performing extraordinary feats when under extreme duress.

But then, what else could have happened? What other explanation was there?

The sun began to rise as I stared out the window. Images of the previous night flashed by my eyes again, and I shut them tightly, holding back the surge of emotions that followed. My mind returned to thoughts of revenge. It no longer mattered how I had come to be there, only that fate had given me this miraculous opportunity to make right the wrongs committed by the dark knight.

I just didn't know how to take advantage of it.

I winced again, pain shooting from my wound. Whether I liked it or not, Allana had been right: I would have been hard pressed to go anywhere or do anything in this state. And as I took the time to think about it, I realized that I was a solitary Black Mage – not even a fully trained Black Mage at that – up against an entire kingdom, most likely full of evil men like the dark knight. And even if I managed to find him, his skills would surely be more than a match for my own.

I would need help.

I began to think again about the inhabitants of Mist. I began to ponder the possibility that the stories I had heard were more than rumours. What if they were true? What if these people really _could _summon monsters to do their bidding? The very prospect was almost ludicrous, but if people like Allana really did possess that power…

I sat forward, ignoring my protesting wound. I clasped my hands and rested my chin upon them, thinking. If people like Allana really did possess that power, they would be great assets to my cause… to the world's cause. Baron was a kingdom of tyrants. It stood to reason that if they had come after Mysidia's Water Crystal, it wouldn't be long before they would seek the other three Crystals as well. If I could convince these Summoners to listen to me…

I shook my head slowly. There were too many things that could go wrong. What if these people really weren't Summoners at all? It could just as easily have been a rumour as it could have been the truth. And the odds were against me that they would understand my plight and offer their aid. After all, I was just a young Black Mage… and Baron was a very fearsome nation.

But I thought once again about where I was, and I knew I would never again have this chance. If I didn't act…

I looked out the window again. The sun had risen much higher in the sky. It had been an hour, at least, since its first appearance on what I could see of the horizon. How was it that time so menacingly snuck by me with such ease? Was I that lost within my own consciousness?

I sat up slowly, and carefully tested my legs. They responded to my commands without too much discomfort. I hesitantly turned, swinging them over the side of the bed. I felt them come to rest upon the hard, wooden floor. I stayed in that position for several seconds, feeling the pain begin to ease in my midsection. My head began to spin at the sudden physical exertion, but the dizzy spell soon passed and my vision cleared. I began to rise from the bed, my feet tingling as they awoke from their slumber. There was still pain but it was noticeably weaker; I took a few steps forward and found walking to be much easier.

I crossed the room slowly and carefully to retrieve my robes from the nearby chair. I looked out the window as I dressed. I could see the little clusters of trees that dotted the village, and the mountains beyond. The window faced to the west, and I could see a long pass bordered on either side by the mountain range, and beyond it, a large desert. Mist was certainly a solitary village. To leave meant to either face the dangers of the Misty Valley, or else die of thirst or of heat in the endless dunes. It struck me as odd that a village surrounded by such harsh elements could be so peaceful.

I finished dressing and left the room, and subsequently left the house. The sun was steadily rising, and the little dwelling was empty. I looked around for any sign of Allana and Rydia, and eventually spotted them some distance away. Allana was caring for the vegetables in her garden, and Rydia played quietly with an inchworm nearby.

Allana looked up, wiped some sweat from her forehead and put a hand to her brow to shade her eyes from the sun. She looked concerned as she saw me approaching. "Zacharias," she said, "you shouldn't be up and about. You need your rest."

I shook my head, walking painfully up to her. "I… I'm having difficulty sleeping," I said. "I doubt remaining in bed will be of much help."

"I see." She stood and dusted herself off. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yes, thank you, but I had something I wanted to ask you." I hesitated for a few seconds, running a hand through my scruffy, black hair. She folded her arms, a curious look on her face.

After another moment, I began. "I believe I may know more about this village than I told you. In Mysidia, we were told of a village far away called Mist whose inhabitants practiced… well… a different kind of magic. Is it… is it true?"

Allana was silent for several seconds, pondering her answer. "What sort of… magic… are you referring to?"

I shifted my weight, unsure of what to say. "There were rumours about… about the forgotten magic." She said nothing, and I prodded on. "The… the Summoning magic."

Once again, Allana was silent. She turned away, her lips pursed, and began to walk away from her daughter, motioning for me to do the same. I followed her, as curious as I was nervous.

Finally, she spoke again. "It's true," she said, "but it's very disturbing to me that our village's secret is known as far abroad as Mysidia. We keep very much to ourselves here." She glanced toward the cavern that led through the Misty Valley. "Each passage is guarded… it discourages adventurers who would otherwise stumble upon us. My Mist Dragon protects the Misty Valley, and I admit I was very disturbed to find you where you were."

She looked back at me. "Now that you know, I must ask you not to tell a soul about our powers."

My face fell. "But… why?"

She pursed her lips again, looking at the ground. "There are those who would be threatened by our abilities… or else, who would see fit to possess it. If the world knew what we are – what we are capable of – we would undoubtedly be killed."

I gulped. "Killed…?"

"Or enslaved, or worse. Corruption falls within human nature, Zacharias. A man with power longs for only one thing: more power. We might well be hunted down and killed… or we might be forced to use our magic to fight in their wars." She looked at Rydia, and a tear formed in her eye. "I don't want that for her. I don't want it for any of us. We just want to live a peaceful life."

I paused for a moment, unable to decide whether or not to ask what was on my mind… whether or not there was any point. Finally, I decided to speak. "I was… hoping that you would help me."

"Help you?" she repeated. "Help you do what?"

I hesitated, unsure of how to begin. "My village was… The other night, my village was attacked by soldiers from Baron."

She put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, my goodness…"

"They came in strong numbers. They killed many of us. They…" My throat began to close, and I looked down. "They killed my father."

"But…" Allana seemed at a loss for words. "But why?"

"The Water Crystal," I said. "They came for our Water Crystal."

She seemed to weaken a little. She leaned against a nearby tree for support.

"You realize what this means, don't you?" I said imploringly. "They won't stop at just one of the Crystals. They'll attack other nations as well. Damcyan, Fabul, Toroia… They'll all be invaded as we were." I walked closer to her. "If we don't stop them now, other nations will fall prey to the same fate as Mysidia. Baron, its soldiers… the dark knight responsible for my father's death… all of them must be stopped! Surely you understand that!"

She shook her head. "I… Zacharias, we aren't warriors. You must realize that. I… I'm so sorry for your loss, but you must understand how vulnerable we really are."

"Vulnerable?" I repeated, incredulous. "You possess the ability to call forth tremendous creatures to do your bidding!"

But she was still shaking her head. "No… you don't understand… When we summon forth a Phantom Beast, a bond is created that ties one life to the other. If one life ends…" She looked at me, unable to continue.

I finished the sentence for her. "If a summoned monster dies… so does the Summoner?"

She nodded. "Yes. We live in peace with the Phantom Beasts… we are bound to them. As they come to our aid, we come to theirs. They live in their own realm, far from here, where they are safe from the harsh energies of our world… a place so reclusive that even time flows differently within it.

"But when they leave those protective energies behind, they are vulnerable to those of our world, and it is us – the Summoners – that offer part of our own life force to sustain them."

She paused for a moment before she continued. "Very few Summoners do what I have done. To call a Phantom Beast forward for a short period of time is very different from living and coexisting with one's summoned creature for even a day, let alone one's lifetime. The risks are… well, they are nearly too broad to be counted. But I have entered into a life bond with the Mist Dragon. It may live among us as it wishes, and in return it protects us from those who would do us harm."

"But you can't wage a war…" I said.

"No. There are too few of us… and as I have said, we are not suited to war. I do wish you the best of fortune on your quest, but we cannot help you."

I sighed. "I see."

She looked at the ground, wrapping her arms about her as if for warmth, though it was a beautiful day. "You are welcome to stay here for as long as you wish, until you are fully healed. After that… I'm afraid you will be on your own."

She turned away, returning to where her daughter was playing. I studied the grass, thinking to myself.

"Rydia," she called, "come. It's time for your—"

Suddenly she stopped. I had only been listening, and when I heard her speech cut off so abruptly, I glanced up to see what was wrong. Allana stood stock still, trembling. Her arms hung limp at her sides. The wind blew her sundress about, but she still didn't move. Rydia looked afraid. "Mommy?" she said, her voice quivering.

I started toward her, but I had barely taken two steps before there was a flash of bright green light. I stopped, the brilliance forcing me to shield my eyes. When the light faded and I removed them, I nearly lost my balance. The air around Allana was glowing a pale green, and she was floating several inches off the ground as if suspended by invisible ropes.

Seconds later, a beam of the same green light appeared with another flash, and it as I followed its path, I saw that it led away from her and vanished within the Misty Valley, far in the distance. In less than a second, I understood what had happened.

The Mist Dragon was dead.

"_No!!_" I called out, but it was far too late. The green light soon vanished, and Allana collapsed to the ground, motionless.

"Mommy!" Rydia ran to her mother's side, kneeling and grabbing the woman's arm in her small hands. She began to shake her, tears falling from her eyes. "Mommy! Wake up! Please _wake up!_"

I rushed over, falling to the ground on the other side of Allana's lifeless form. She stared straight up to the sky, but her eyes held no life within them.

"Mommy! Mommy, wake up! Please!"

_I could barely see through the tears that were beginning to flood my eyes. I rolled my father onto his back, clutching the fabric of his robe. "Father! Father, wake up! Please!"_

I shook my head fiercely, ridding it of the invading memories, fighting back more tears. Rydia was sobbing freely, her head upon Allana's lifeless chest, her face buried within it. Her tears soaked the sundress. She clutched her mother's hands.

But I wasn't thinking about Allana anymore. My mind had moved on of its own accord. If the Mist Dragon had been killed, someone must have been responsible. And if that was true, that someone would be here at any—

My head shot up. I looked to the village's entrance. My mouth grew dry, my palms began to sweat, and my eyes began to glow. My face began to burn, my fists to clench. The memories flooded back, as they had become so accustomed to doing.

_He wore armour darker than any metal I had ever seen before. His face was entirely shrouded by his dark helmet. His dark shield bore what I assumed was the Baronian crest. Even the sword he carried at his belt was dark. He was living darkness._

The dark knight.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to fight until there was nothing left of me with which to do so. But I knew that I couldn't.

I turned to Rydia, staying low and thus out of the dark knight's vision. "Rydia!" I said. "Come on! We need to get out of here!"

But she wouldn't move. "Mommy…" she said quietly, the tears still flowing.

_I looked at my father once more, the tears wiped away by my rage, my feeling of absolute hatred. "You've killed my father. He'd still be alive if you hadn't come here to spill innocent blood!"_

I nearly screamed, but I bit my tongue and fought my mind back. "Rydia!" I said again, desperately. "Come on!!"

But the girl wouldn't budge.

Then there was another flash, and as hard as I tried to look away, I couldn't tear my eyes from the source. The dark knight held a ring, and from the jewel at its heart was emanating a horrifying red glow. The light expanded, and then transformed, as flames began to erupt and it was suddenly no longer a ring, but the source of a raging inferno.

He was burning the village.

I could no longer wait. I tore my eyes from it and dashed away, diving behind the nearest house on the border of the village, hoping desperately that I hadn't been seen. But I could hear the blaze of the flames. I could see the bright flashes from the explosions within Mist. The sky turned red and everything around me grew hot as the fire consumed more and more of the unfortunate place. I could hear screams, cries of fear and of pain. They were silenced almost immediately. Large blocks of stone and splintered, burning wood flew by me, and I ducked instinctively, covering my head.

And then I heard Rydia once more, and my heart sank.

"Mommy!!"

I wanted to leap from behind the house, but I dared not. Instead I inched out slowly, hoping desperately that I would be able to watch but not be seen. The smoke and flames between the girl and I made it difficult to pick out the dark knight, but I eventually spotted him… and someone else. They looked as if they were arguing about something, but I was far too far away to hear any of it. I could barely even make out the second form at all. Rydia remained, oblivious, next to the body of her mother. I wanted to run out, grab her, and pull her to safety, but the risk was too great, and the pain in my abdomen was renewed after the sudden movement.

The two figures stopped arguing seconds later, and to my horror, the dark knight turned on Rydia. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but I could hear Rydia's high-pitched voice over the chaos. "You killed my mommy's dragon!"

Run, Rydia! I thought desperately, but I could do nothing but watch.

Then the second man advanced toward her, and once again my heart sank. Dark blue light armour; powerful legs; a long, elegant spear. All of the stories I had read, every one of the near-mythical men I had idolized, it all vanished in a puff of smoke as I realized that the man currently advancing toward Rydia was unmistakeably a Dragoon.

"We must take her by force!" I heard him say in a gruff voice.

"No!!" yelled Rydia, who was backing away. "I hate you! I hate you all!!"

I was completely unprepared for what happened next. The child began to glow, green light seemingly emanating from her skin. Then, all of a sudden, the ground began to rumble. The dark knight and the Dragoon stumbled backward, caught as off-guard as I had been. The trembling grew so fierce I had to clutch the hot stone of the household behind which I was hidden. "Rydia!!" I screamed, but I could scarcely hear my own voice."

Then, before my eyes, a cleft began to appear in the ground between Rydia and the two Baronian knights. It grew bigger and bigger until at last a mighty arm reached out from within it, slamming onto the grass and causing the earth to tremble again. Another arm followed it, and rising from the depths of the ground came a creature of which I had only heard tell in myths. The great, rippling muscles; the continued tremors; the chilling roar.

This was the Titan.

The beast roared again, causing yet another tremor and forcing both myself and the knights to back away in fear. The last thing I saw was his gargantuan fist raised high above his powerful head before I threw myself down, covering my head with my arms.

The Titan brought his fist down upon the earth.

_I raised my hands. Again, time seemed to flow in slow motion. Once again, I saw the evil ends of their bloodstained swords, but this time I wasn't afraid. This time, I couldn't have cared less whether or not I survived. The Lord Black Mage was dead. My father had been killed. My village was burning. My life was already over. It seemed fitting to make it official._

_Because I fought for justice. _

Everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Zacharias**_  
_

_The idol who becomes the master, and the student who learns to expand.  
These are the precepts of every great legend in the history of legend itself.  
With the renewal of the spirit comes the rebirth of the soul,  
But when it comes, wary should one be of burning fires that do not easily cool._

* * *

Chapter 3

When I think of the few days between the annihilation of my old life and the construction of my new one, I remember how accustomed I would eventually become to awakening from a state of unconsciousness. My vision was bleary as I opened my eyes, but where my memories had taken time to surface previously, this time the events I had witnessed were still fresh in my mind.

I sat bolt upright, stopping short of crying out. I glanced around frantically and scurried behind the wreckage of the house near which I had hidden. I took a good look at it, surveying the extent of the damage. The Titan's earthquake had apparently forced the walls and roof to buckle, and the flames from the dark knight's ring had blackened and charred the crumbled stone.

I looked carefully around what was left of the wall and at the rest of the village, and my heart sank as I saw how little was left. Where there had once been a peaceful, mysterious village, there was now little more than rubble and the ashes of a great and hideous fire. I unconsciously ran a hand over the broken stone that had once been the wall. I wanted to scream.

Still, my instincts were telling me to keep quiet. I remained crouched behind the wreckage, eyeing the depressingly yellow grass, the charred trees. The ground smoldered but in a tired way, as though it were too tired to burn. I laid my hands on the ground. I could feel an echo of exhaustion in my muscles, and I still felt the stabbing pain from the wound in my abdomen, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins drove it to the back of my mind.

I felt the earth once again, and then realized that the very ground I was standing on had been rendered uneven by the Titan. Throughout the village, I noticed, some houses sat higher than others, while some sank into the earth. Could the tremors really have been so powerful as to rearrange the very foundation of the village?

What I saw next very nearly forced a gasp of amazement from my throat.

On the eastern side of the village, the mountains that formed the narrow pass leading to the desert had caved in. What had once been cliffs were now an enormous pile of rock, far too high to scale and certainly too thick, I guessed, to attempt to dig through. Revealing as little of myself as I could, I peered around to the western passage. To my relief, it had remained clear.

My mouth began to feel dry, however, as I realized how close the newly-formed mountain of rock was to where Rydia had been standing, and she was presently nowhere in sight. I didn't want to think of it as a possibility, but she could easily have been crushed by the avalanche. Destroyed by the very power she unleashed… what a frightening thought.

I put a hand to my mouth as my breathing grew shallow. Her mother's death had been horrible enough, but to die herself at such a young age… it was monstrous.

I shook my head, forcing myself to pay attention, and looked around for any sign of the dark knight or the Dragoon. There was none. I felt my stomach turn as I saw two or three motionless bodies scattered about the village, but none of them wore the armour of either of the Baronian envoys. It appeared that I was safe for the moment.

"What do you think you're doing?" said a voice directly behind me.

I screamed and began to dash away, only to trip and fall roughly to the ground a short distance away. I spun, backing away as quickly as I could across the grass while keeping a fearful but wary eye on the man who had spoken.

It was the Dragoon. His armour was a dark blue and appeared as if time had worn it thin. His helmet bore the likenesses of a dragon's long, fin-like ears, and the tip of the visor was shaped in the form of a dragon's snout. Beneath it, I could see his dark eyes and his rough jaw.

He took a few steps toward me, slowly and carefully. I backed away at a similar pace, my own features contorted with hatred. "Calm down," he said. "I don't intend to harm you."

I said nothing, backing away until I felt myself pressed against the huge boulders released by the avalanche. My breathing was shallow and rapid, but my expression didn't change. "Get away from me!" I said with as much courage as I could muster.

But he did not. "You have no need to fear me."

"I said, get away!"

The Dragoon halted, staring at me for a moment. I remember his eyes, so dark and so deep. It wasn't until later that I learned of the sorrow he held within them, a product of years of misery.

But at that moment, there was little to find in his eyes other than mirth. "What did you think you were doing over there?" he said again. "Trying to hide? Where you were lying, even a blind man could easily have tripped over you."

My lower lip was trembling as I tried to speak. "What… what do you want?"

"This place isn't safe," he replied shortly. "If there were any way out of here other than with me, you can rest assured that I wouldn't bother with you."

It took me a moment to understand what he meant. "Y-you want to help me?" Then I shook my head vigourously. "I don't need your help! I'll find a way on my own!"

The man laughed derisively. "You'll find a way, will you? Which way? Through the Misty Valley? You'll be captured by Baronian soldiers before you've even found the other side."

"You're from Baron. Why should you care?"

"I…" He paused. "My allegiance is no longer with Baron."

"You liar!" I snarled. "I saw what you and that dark knight did to this village!"

If I'd been paying enough attention, and if I hadn't been so clouded by my anger, I probably would have seen a look of sincere regret pass across his face, if only for an instant. "We didn't know the purpose of that ring. Our orders were—"

"I don't care what your orders were! You killed all these people! And you killed the Mist Dragon, didn't you?"

He bowed his head. "We… didn't know that the girl's mother would die. We were only trying to defend ourselves."

"I don't care!" I stood up shakily. "You're both monsters, you and that dark knight! As if what you did to Mysidia wasn't enough, you had to come here and—"

"Mysidia?" he interrupted, his eyes widening slightly. "You're a boy from Mysidia? How did you come to be here?"

"I don't know! And why do you care?"

He shook his head. "I don't, although now I understand why you harbour such hostility towards us."

"I hate you because you're both cold-blooded killers!"

"We aren't. You must understand that."

"I don't try to understand men as evil as you and that dark knight!"

"He is not an evil man—"

"He killed my father!"

Before the Dragoon could respond, there were voices from the west side of the village. He glanced back, and then rounded on me. "Hurry. The soldiers are here. You must hide."

"Just get away from me!" I said fiercely.

"Look," he said, "You can think whatever you want of me, and quite frankly, I don't give a damn what you think, but if those soldiers find you here they will not hesitate to kill you. Hide!"

I stared at him for another moment before I finally dove away from the cliff, hiding behind yet another ruined homestead, and not a second too soon. I could hear the pairs of boots ascending the artificial hills along the village and rounding the corner, headed for the east passage. I carefully looked out from behind the homestead to watch what was happening.

The soldiers slowed as they approached the Dragoon. "Sir Kain!" they said, standing at attention.

"At ease," the Dragoon told them. "Why have you been sent here?"

The captain stepped forward. "We were sent to search for you, Sir. After the earthquake, we feared the worst."

Kain nodded. "I understand. I am fine, although I fear that Cecil may have been—"

"Sir Cecil?" the captain interrupted. "We've already found him. A scout ship spotted him crossing the desert with a young girl."

"A girl?" Kain repeated.

"Yes, Sir. A Summoner from this village, we think. We believe he's harbouring her, and His Majesty has sent us to bring him to justice – after finding you, of course. Were there any other survivors?"

For a moment I was worried Kain would reveal me, but he merely bowed his head. "None. I… didn't want to doubt Cecil's loyalty, but apparently His Majesty was correct. He should be your priority, along with the girl. Are there any other groups following you?"

"No, Sir, aside from our airship crew. Should we send for reinforcements?"

Kain shook his head. "No, there's no time. Take your ship and follow him. He will probably be headed for Kaipo."

The captain saluted. "Yes, Sir. His Majesty commands that you return to Baron for your next assignment."

"Assignment?"

"Yes, Sir. Our liege has decided that the other three Crystals pose a threat to our kingdom. The Red Wings depart in three days to retrieve the Fire Crystal from Damcyan, and you are to lead the raid."

My expression darkened. He had told me he was no longer loyal to Baron. He lied to me. But I shouldn't have expected anything less from a man such as him.

Meanwhile, Kain nodded. "I will return to Baron. You must hurry and head for Kaipo. You should be there by nightfall if you leave now."

The soldiers saluted again, and presently they turned and hurried back out of the village. I waited until they had disappeared safely into the Misty Valley before I stepped away from my hiding place, fixing the Dragoon with an icy stare.

"You liar," I said to him.

He turned around. "I beg your pardon?"

"You told me you weren't loyal to Baron anymore, and yet here you are with a brand new assignment, and some more innocent people to kill."

I could have sworn I saw him roll his eyes. "I do not plan to return to Baron, if that is that you were thinking. I merely told them that to maintain the illusion that I'm still loyal to them. Instead, I will go to Damcyan, and hopefully warn them of the attack before the Red Wings arrive."

I was nearly struck dumb. He killed the Mist Dragon, he destroyed the village, and now he intended to help the kingdom of Damcyan when he could lead the attack? I asked the only question that was left on my lips. "What about those soldiers? What about Rydia?"

"She's in no danger. Cecil seems to have found her… he can take care of himself."

He strode over to the blocked passage, examining it. For my part, I could think of nothing else to say. His intentions were seemingly… noble. And he was a Dragoon. Some part of him must still have retained that sense of honour. Perhaps there was more to him than I had assumed. And whoever this Cecil was, Kain seemed confident that Rydia was in safe hands.

But the dark knight…

I cleared my throat, and Kain turned around. "I'm… sorry. I suppose I may have misjudged you."

He nodded. "Apology accepted, but unnecessary. If I had seen what you did, I would probably have felt the same way."

"I know about your kind," I continued. "Dragoons, I mean. My mother used to tell me stories about them before she…" I broke off momentarily, and then found my voice again. "I read all about their codes of honour and duty, their commitment to justice. I always wanted to be like them – like you."

Kain looked uncomfortable, and turned away, shifting his attention back to the blocked passage. "Don't be too hasty," he said over his shoulder. "I left those standards behind some time ago, and I've committed deeds that were… well, less than honourable."

"Oh…" I'm sure I looked somewhat crestfallen at that remark. Still, I wasn't going to give up my hopes so easily. "So you… you're part of a clan, aren't you?"

He turned to face me. "You really have been doing a lot of reading, haven't you? All right, yes, I was once part of a clan. My father's, actually."

"Your father was a Dragoon?"

He nodded. "He died when I was very young, but he was once a very proud warrior of the Windfang Clan."

My jaw dropped. "The Windfang Clan? The Windfang Clan?"

He chuckled. "I see you've heard of it."

"Those stories are legendary!" I said, momentarily forgetting where I was. When I heard the echo of my own voice returning to me from the cliffs, I sheepishly ran a hand through my hair and regained my composure. "My mother… the stories of the Windfang Clan were her favourites. I used to admire their strength of character, like the old Regent Abramm Highwind—"

"I thought you might know that name," Kain said, glancing back to the blocked passage and gazing upward.

"Did…" I paused. "Did your father know him?"

"Of course. He was Abramm's son."

I nearly lost my balance. "You… you are Regent Highwind's grandson?!"

He sighed, and then turned and made an elaborate bow. "Kain Abramm Highwind, at your service."

I stared for a second, and then realized what I was doing and looked away. "I'm sorry…"

"I will be happy to discuss my heritage with you some other day," he said irritably, "but if there is any chance of getting as far as Damcyan before the Red Wings do, I can't be wasting time." He turned back to me. "I'll take you to Kaipo. You'll be safe there."

He turned back to what he was doing, taking several steps back to properly ascertain the height of the blockage. I watched him, unsure of what to think. Here was the grandson of possibly the greatest Dragonian warrior ever to have lived, and he spoke of his lineage as if it were barely worth mentioning. I couldn't understand him. I was the son of the Lord Black Mage of Mysidia, and I took great pride in that. Kain's grandfather was nothing less than legendary. What was there to be ashamed of?

I felt a pang as I thought about my father, and I shook my head, trying to think of something else. Surely Kain could teach me something of his ways. I thought about that for a moment. I had never been so close to realizing my dream of becoming one of the Dragoons. How could I pass up such an opportunity?

I cleared my throat. "Um… I have something to ask you."

Another exasperated sigh, and he turned around. "I hope this isn't about my grandfather."

"No, it's not. I…" I hesitated, unsure of how to phrase what I was thinking. When I finally spoke, it came out far more blunt than I had intended.

"Take me with you."

Kain crossed his arms. "Excuse me?"

"Please," I said, taking a few steps toward him. "It's… I told you, I always wanted to be like the Dragoons, and I—"

"Stop, that's enough," he interrupted. He placed his hands on his hips and looked at the ground, letting out a heavy sigh. "Look, I'm not a babysitter, and I'm certainly not the best example of this Dragoon honour you keep going on about. I have…" He broke off momentarily, and then looked me in the eye. "I am a disgrace to my clan. They don't want to have anything to do with me."

"But why—"

"I don't want to talk about it!" he snapped, turning back to his task. "Rest assured that you'd have a much lower opinion of me if I told you."

"I don't care! I… just take me with you!"

He didn't even glance back over his shoulder. "Sorry, but I can't afford the dead weight."

"Dead weight?" I repeated. "Says who? I'm a Black Mage, you know! I can fight, too!"

He sighed. "You're just a kid. I'm going up against a kingdom of perhaps the most ruthless soldiers on the face of this planet. It's far too dangerous for someone like you."

Anger boiled inside me. "Someone like me, huh…"

I swiftly strode around him, gazing fiercely into his dark eyes. "You think I don't know danger? You think I'm afraid? I watched my hometown burnt to the ground, its citizens killed by the very same soldiers you plan on fighting. My father – my father – died trying to save me from the same fate, and they nearly got me too, and for what? A lousy Crystal!" My face was barely two inches from the breastplate of his armour by now. "Do you really think I can stand by and do nothing? Do you think I can live a happy, ignorant life while other kingdoms, other people, suffer the same fate as Mysidia?"

He crossed his arms. "And what about this so-called evil dark knight of yours?"

I held his gaze for nearly a second more before I faltered, turning away. "What about him?"

He chuckled derisively. "You don't fool me. You're no humanitarian. You want to go with me and fight because you want revenge."

"Justice!" I spat bitterly.

"Perhaps the way you see it. But the truth is that you just want to get back at him – don't give me that look, you know I'm right."

The murderous expression on my face did not change as I stared back at him. "So what if I do? He killed my father, he stole the Crystal – he stole my life! So what if I want to make him suffer the same way I did. Is that really so wrong?!"

"Someone as well-versed in the Dragoon's code of honour as yourself should know the answer to that question."

I looked away. He resumed what he had been doing. I wanted to explode, to yell at him until my face turned blue, to scream, kicking and punching until he said he was wrong. But he wasn't. He was absolutely right, and I knew it. I thought about the books I had read, the great Dragonian legends… Regent Abramm Highwind. He'd have said that some things – honour, duty, even justice – are more important than petty things such as revenge. But I didn't want to admit that.

After a few more moments, I turned once more. "I… you're right… but I really do want to help!" Once again, he stopped what he was doing and stared at me, and I could sense the change in his attitude from where I stood. "I want to do something for this world, and if I can help… if one less innocent person has to die because I stand up for what's right… that's more important to me than getting revenge."

His expression did not change. "You mean that?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Even if it means fighting at his side?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but the words caught in my throat, and I realized that this was the one possibility – no, inevitability – that I had not considered. Could I fight alongside the man who destroyed the last vestiges of the life I had once known, who had forcefully taken everything from me that I held dear? Could I forgive a man such as that? No, I could. It was out of the question. But still…

Kain had approached me, speaking more softly this time. "He is my ally," he said. "I swore as he did to bring down the kingdom of Baron. We've both committed atrocities against humanity in our lives, leaving us with a great deal of shame. But he is not an evil man."

"He's a dark knight," I said loathingly. "I may have misjudged you, but there's no question about him… that heart of his is as dark as the armour he wears."

Another sigh of exasperation from the Dragoon. "Listen—"

"No, you listen!" I said, my voice sounding harsher than I had intended. "You weren't there! You didn't see what happened! You didn't have to witness his cruelty firsthand! I did! You weren't there when my f-" My voice cracked, and I broke off for a moment. "You didn't see how little he hesitated before giving the order to kill. You didn't have to hear the screams, feel the heat! You weren't nearly run through by his soldiers, convinced you'd never live to see tomorrow!"

Through the tears that were now forming, I winced; speaking of the wounds the Baronian soldiers had inflicted upon me had forced the pain in my abdomen to return. Clutching the wound, I stood there, shaking.

Kain approached me, kneeling so that he could properly look me in the eye. "I understand the… the pain that you feel. But some things are more important than revenge."

I sighed shakily. "That's… that's what your grandfather would have said."

If he felt any exasperation at the continued mention of his ancestry, he did not show it. He merely said, "well, then, if you won't listen to me, will you listen to him?"

It was a long time before I began to decide what to think. I knew as I did so that I had not yet understood what it was that I was supposed to understand, had not yet felt as Kain thought I should have. But I knew that my journey had to begin somewhere… with a first step.

Slowly, I nodded.

Kain bowed his head. He almost looked pained, but at the same time, now that I look back upon that moment, I can put a name to the missing emotion that I had not managed to trace when I was a boy: a hint of pride.

Moments later, he stood. "All right. I will take you with me to Damcyan."

My knees weakened with relief. "Kain… thank you!"

"Don't thank me just yet," he said matter-of-factly, standing and turning back to the blocked pass. "There's plenty you need to learn if you want to become as skilled as the Dragoons are, and that will not be easy."

My eyes widened slightly. "You… you mean you'll…" I gulped. "You'll help me? You'll teach me?"

He sighed once more. "Only because you'll need some skill if you're going to keep up with me, and the way I do things."

He took one final look upwards, beyond the rocks that blocked the passage, and nodded. "Now, for the first challenge."

I looked for myself. The blockage reached very high, perhaps halfway to the peaks of the mountains. "What's so challenging about this? You can jump much higher than that, can't you?"

"Not with a passenger," he said, looking pointedly at me.

I blushed slightly and turned away, annoyed with myself for not realizing the added weight I really would be giving him. I wiped away the last of my tears, removing my hand from the wound in my front. Pain still scorched me, etching away from the pierced skin, but I grimly set my jaw and looked back to the task at hand. "I'm ready if you are."

He nodded. "We must leave. You'll need to hang tightly to my back."

Obligingly, I walked over to him. He stooped to allow me access to his muscular back, hidden behind his dark blue armour. As I climbed onto it, steadying myself for what would surely be a bumpy voyage, I looked around once more. My heart was heavy as I looked at all the homes, now little more than wreckage, or else threatening to become such after a short time had passed. I saw the bodies of some of the villagers. I saw the charred, smoking grass and plants.

Then I saw Allana. She lay on her back as she had before the fire, peaceful, untouched. The true beauty of her figure, stunning even in death, lay before my eyes, and I couldn't help feeling more tears coming, watching as the unscathed, unfortunate mother lay in her sundress on her back, waiting for the heavens to descend and claim her.

I closed my eyes, feeling the wet tears begin to dribble down my cheeks. Allana, I thought, clutching the Dragoon's shoulders, I will find her… I will keep her safe. I owe you that much.

I heard Kain speaking in the very outskirts of my ears, as if he were calling from very far away. I held on even tighter, hoping against all hope that he and I would arrive at Damcyan in time, that we would be able to stop some of the carnage from taking place; a last glance at what had once been the village of Myst told me that I couldn't bear to see the evil kingdom spill more innocent blood.

_Watch me, Father._

And then Kain jumped, and the sky beckoned to me as we flew higher and higher, and Allana and Myst were nothing more than a painfully vivid memory.


	4. Interlude 1

**Zacharias**

* * *

Interlude 1

Where am I?

I'm in a bed, but it's not my bed, it's not my home... where am I? What am I doing here? What's going on?

Where's mommy?

There's someone beside me. I can hear breathing. I can smell something... but I don't know what. I'm scared, but I want to look anyway. I'm curious. _No, _I tell myself, _what if there's danger? _But I want to see, I want to see who's here with me.

I turn over, and I see him. I can't see his eyes. He's wearing a helmet, and armour, all dark and frightening. I recognize him. He was one of the men, the men who burned my home, the scary men who tried to take me away!

The men who killed Mother!

I turn away. I'm shaking. I can barely breathe. I shut my eyes tight. _Go away,_ I pray silently. _Please make him go away_.

But he doesn't. Instead, I hear his voice. "I'm glad you're awake," he tells me.

I'm frightened. I don't answer.

"This is the inn at Kaipo. I brought you here, away from the village. You're safe with me, I promise."

What does he mean? How can he say these things? I don't answer.

"I'm... I know you can't forgive me for what we did to your village, and your mother... but I'll protect you, I promise. Nothing will happen to you as long as I'm here."

Could he mean what he is saying? Why does he want to protect me? No, he's lying. He must be lying.

I don't answer.

I hear the clanking of his armour, which strikes the floor noisily as he takes it off, and then the creaky springs of the bed beside me.

Soon there's no more sound. I turn over again. He lies facing away from me. All I can see is his hair. It's long and white, but he doesn't look old. And without the armour, he looks different... he's not as scary anymore.

It's late. I can see the moon through the window. I try and sleep.

I don't know how much later it is when I hear a door crash open. I'm frightened again. I see the man, the dark knight, getting up from his bed. "Don't move," he tells me.

He puts on his armour again. But this time it's not as frightening. This time... this time I feel almost safe.

Men walk in. Four men. Frightening men, wearing armour and carrying swords. The dark knight stands between them and my bed.

"Hello, Cecil," says the leader.

"Leave," says Cecil, and his voice is angry, threatening.

The man laughs. "You don't think it'll be that easy, do you? But we're prepared to be merciful. By order of the king, give us the last of the summoner scum, and we may forego your execution and throw you in prison instead."

"Never." I see his hand on his own sword. I pull my covers higher.

"You would once again defy your liege?"

"To hell with the king and to hell with his orders! You will not harm this girl!"

He draws his dark sword. The other soldiers draw theirs as well. My terror mounts by the second. The leader yells at his men, and they charge, swinging their swords around. I can barely see what's happening. I hear metal clanging. The dark knight moves faster than I've seen anyone move before. I hear cries of battle and then cries of pain. Men fall to the floor.

When the dark knight stands again, the three soldiers lie on the floor. They're not moving. The other one, the leader, is nowhere to be seen.

Alone in the darkness stands the dark knight. My dark knight. My... my hero.

He walks back to my bed. I've been crying... I didn't notice. I wipe away my tears, and I look at him, and this time I'm not frightened.

"Are you all right?" I sniffle, but I don't say anything, and he bows his head. "I wish I could ask forgiveness for what I've done..."

"No," I finally say. "You... you protected me."

I can see the first rays of sunlight brimming outside the window. It's a new day, mother would say. Time to begin again.

"I'm Rydia," I tell him.


	5. Chapter 4

**Zacharias**_  
_

_Ritual and tradition are candles that burn endlessly,  
Leading those in need of guidance and order  
And giving the weak the chance they need to survive in a harsh world,  
A world livid with hatred, deceit, and insatiable greed._

* * *

Chapter 4

My face felt as if it were frozen.

High as we were in the mountains that laced the countryside between the deserts of Damcyan and Kaipo, the wind that whipped across my face and through my hair was as cold as any wind I'd ever felt. But I shut my eyes tight, bracing myself wordlessly against the bitter cold, not letting a single complaint leave my lips. It was far too late to be complaining now, and I wouldn't have in any case; the journey might have been rough, but my resolve had never been clearer.

I spent my time admiring Kain and his strength, speed and stealth. We had traveled almost the entire way along the peak of the mountain range, stopping only once at a small spring for water. He rarely remained upon any given surface for longer than a few seconds. Every move was another leap to another ledge, and then another and another, and I marvelled at how he could land and subsequently jump again without disturbing a single stone beneath his agile feet.

The whole of the day was spent travelling, and by the time the sun began to set I was very sore and very stiff. I dared not let go of Kain's shoulders, but I was feeling the complaints of my arms and legs even when there was no longer enough light left to see them by.

So, long after the sun had set, I found it difficult to mask my relief when Kain finally settled on a grassy plateau and glanced back to me. "You can get down. We'll camp here tonight."

I descended – or rather, collapsed – from his back, and found myself sitting in a clearing in the middle of a small grove of trees atop the plateau. Already Kain was gathering fallen or discarded wood for a fire, and I soon gathered my wits and, ignoring my protesting muscles, walked over to help him.

He chuckled as I neared him and bent over to pick up a few branches. "You're a much quieter passenger than I'd have expected, considering how much you wanted to talk before we left."

I shrugged. "I guess. I just… well, I didn't want to distract you."

"Good thinking," was all he said.

I gathered up a few more sticks and then looked around. "Where are we?"

"Halfway across the mountains. Another half-day's journey and we'll reach the desert." He carried the logs that he'd gathered back to where we had set down, and I followed him, trying to keep a hold of all the sticks I'd managed to gather. He set about building a fire, and I sat on the grass nearby, leaning back and looking up at the sky. It was a more marvellous sight than I'd ever seen in Mysidia. The stars were clear, bright and numberless. There must have been millions of them, all across the darkness of the sky, and both moons were full and beautiful, bathing the clearing in their light. "Wow…" I said to myself.

Kain looked up. "Hm?"

"Oh, nothing, I've just never seen such a beautiful night sky before."

He laughed, turning back to the fire. "Enjoy it while you can. The view is almost never this good."

I lay on my back for a few more minutes, taking in as much as I could, though there was far too much magnificence in the sky to remember it all. I tried to burn it into my mind, the exact positions of all the stars, everything. I wanted to always remember that picture, in case I never got the chance to see it again. I wondered for a moment if my father was up there in the stars, looking down on me.

He would be, if I knew my father. I smiled to myself at the thought. Not only would he be up there, he'd be positioning every star just right, so its light would twinkle down right to where I lay. He'd be moving the moons so that when I looked up into them, I would see his face, smiling at me. He'd be watching me from afar, just as he did when he was alive. For all the years I'd thought I had to win his attention, I already had so much of it… more than he would have cared to admit, I'm sure.

I sighed at that, and Kain looked up again. "What now?"

I shook my head. "I was just thinking about my father."

"Oh." Kain stopped for a moment, staring at the log he was holding. Then he looked back. "If you don't mind my asking… what exactly happened in Mysidia?"

I bit my lip. "I… well… I don't really know where to start."

"Try the beginning. That's usually a good place to start."

"The beginning…" I sat up, crossed my legs and stared at my hands. "Well, my father was the Lord Black Mage of Mysidia, you see, and—"

"Rio Shade?" said Kain, with a little more surprise in his voice than I'm sure he intended. "You're the son of Rio Shade?"

I nodded. "Yeah… anyway, when my mother died four years ago, he became a little… I don't know… isolated. Obsessed with his work. He started to spend more and more time at the village hall, and I was always at home, reading my books… the Dragonian legends."

"Ah…"

"I never read anything else," I said. "I couldn't get all that power, duty, justice… I couldn't get it out of my head. And I decided I wanted to be like them – the Dragoons, I mean. So I started to figure out my own brand of magic, starting with the Float spell."

Kain started to laugh. "The Float spell? I never thought of that."

I laughed too, for a second. "My friend thought I was crazy. Her name was Melody. She was the one who taught me how to use the Float spell. I… I don't even know if she's still alive now." I had to pause for a moment at that, but I soon fought off my memories, cleared my throat and continued. "The day Baron attacked Mysidia was the day I finally managed to get the spell right. But my father walked in on it, and he got really angry… he said something about it being dangerous to try using Magic on both sides of the Spectrum. He headed off to the village hall to tell the Elder what I'd done, and I tried to stop him, because I thought I'd never be able to use Magic again if the Elder found out.

"But before my father even had a chance to tell him what I'd done, Priestess Springwater ran in to tell us we were under attack by Baronian Soldiers. We managed to fight them off for a while, but then there was this weird silence, right… the soldiers weren't moving and neither were we. We just sort of stood there. And then the dark knight came. And my father… sacrificed himself to save me."

"Oh…"

I nodded again. "And then the dark knight ordered the soldiers to kill me, and this time I thought I was done for, but something happened… I don't know what. Everything went white, and then I found myself just outside of the Misty Valley. And the rest is… well, history."

He bowed his head. "I'm so sorry."

I shrugged. "I just… I know what I have to do now. I have to do my part to stop all of this before more people die."

Then I turned around; the logs had been set up for the fire, and Kain beckoned me over, looking pointedly at them. I crawled over to join him and called up a first-tier Fire spell, igniting the small pile into a little bonfire that crackled energetically in the starlight. I sat back, hugging my knees close to my chest. I hadn't realized how cold it was. Partly to distract myself, I turned to him. "What about you? What happened with you and your clan?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"Please, Kain?"

He shook his head. "We've already been through this, Zacharias."

I was nothing if not persistent. "Please? I told you my story… it's only fair."

He opened his mouth to reply, but then paused, unsure of what to say. Then he sighed. "I suppose I can't argue with that."

He looked at me, and then at the fire. "I think I need to start from the beginning as well. I was orphaned when I was very young. My mother died in childbirth, and my father died in battle before I'd reached two years of age. So, I was raised by the king of Baron. But my grandfather, Regent Abramm, came to the castle a few years after my father died and told me all sorts of stories about him… his courage… his skill… his honour. I decided then and there that I wanted to become a great Dragoon like him and join the Windfang clan. I started training with the Dragoons of Baron, and I soon worked my way up the ranks until, when I was seventeen, I became their youngest leader in history. Another year and I was able to leave.

"But I didn't."

My mouth dropped open. "What? Why?"

He bowed his head. "There was… a girl. Her name was Rosa. She was a White Mage in training. I'd known her for a long time. And I was… in love with her. I wanted to spend every waking minute with her. So when the new Regent returned to Baron for me – my grandfather had died several years previously – I refused him."

He stared into the fire for a long time, watching the flames dance around. I watched him closely. "You… she didn't love you back, did she?"

He shook his head no. "Not even six months after I turned down my clan's offer, she chose Cecil. And I was left with… nothing. I poured myself into my duties to the king, and I thought of nothing else."

He frowned. "But the king… he's changed. He's become so power-hungry, so… I don't know. Years ago, Baron wasn't like this. We were a peaceful nation, the Red Wings were nothing but a peacekeeping measure. But now… and I just…"

He sighed again, and I said, "what? What is it?"

"I… can't understand why I didn't realize this sooner. And if it hadn't been for Cecil, I wouldn't have. He's convinced me that we need to stand against Baron, and that's what I'm going to do… I owe him that much, and my clan."

I looked into the fire myself. "So, your clan abandoned you because…"

"Because of the great wrongs I committed in my service to Baron. I've been excommunicated."

There was a long moment of silence. I couldn't help but wonder what it must be like to live like him… to have committed as many crimes as he said he did, and then… I shook my head. I couldn't even imagine it, living with that kind of guilt. It was no wonder he wanted to amend his wrongs now. Perhaps Cecil, too, was feeling the same way Kain was. For a moment, I wondered if Rydia was all right. Of course she is, I thought. Kain spoke very highly of this Cecil person… I trusted Kain. There was no reason not to trust Cecil.

And then I wondered about the dark knight, and my features involuntarily twisted. I decided, too, that I couldn't imagine living like him – remorseless, thoughtless… evil. But still, one had to wonder if he felt any guilt for what he had done. And what if he did? Would that mean I'd… I'd have to forgive him? No. Never. But… all the same…

"I've been wondering something," said Kain, breaking my train of thought. "You talked about using the Float spell… If I remember correctly, that requires a form of meditation, doesn't it?"

I nodded.

He leaned on his crossed legs. "Good… then this should be easier."

I frowned. "What? What should be?"

He didn't answer. He inched closer to the fire and put his hands on his knees. Then he closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths, and each time he exhaled it seemed as though the wind were breathing with him, brushing my hair about my head, tossing it in front of my eyes, casting strange shadows across the grass.

Then he opened his eyes. "Sit over there, on the other side of the fire, across from me."

I did as I was told, crawling around the crackling flames until they were directly between us. I mimicked his position, crossing my legs and placing my hands on my knees. I was nervous, but curious at the same time.

"Close your eyes," he said, and I did, the outline of the fire imprinted in my vision. "Put yourself into the same state you were in when you cast the Float spell. Let nothing distract you. Do not let yourself hear the birds, the trees or the wind. The only sounds you can hear are myself and the crackle of this fire."

I tried to do as he was told. It was difficult. I focused on his voice and his breathing, but it seemed that every time I successfully blocked out the distracting sounds around me, they invaded my senses once again, and I had to start over.

At some point I must have found the place in my mind that he described, and he must have sensed it, because he spoke again. "You who wishes to become a warrior of the Dragonian order, who wishes to receive the gift of Bahamut's wings, speak your full name."

I gulped. "Z-Zacharias Riomodos Shade."

"Zacharias Riomodos Shade," he continued. "You have approached one among the citizens under the Dragon King in hopes of becoming more than the boy you are. Why is this your wish?"

I took a deep breath.

"_Feels good, doesn't it?" Melody looked at the books. "When you were thinking about the Dragoons, you were thinking about becoming like them. Your mind was filled with a personal goal. When you thought and believed in justice, the magic responded."_

"_Because justice is…"_

"_Justice serves the world," she said. "To be like the Dragoons would serve you. To pursue justice is a goal honourable by the White Magic."_

"I…" I searched my mind to remember what I had said – what I had believed – when I'd been sitting there, lifting the books with my mind. "I wish to be taken under… under Bahamut's wing… because I stand for justice."

Kain was silent for several moments. "Of what justice do you speak?"

For a dreadful moment, I was afraid I'd said something wrong. But I swallowed my apprehension and pressed on. "I mean… all justice. I want to fight all oppression, stand up for everything that has nothing to defend it. What was done to me, what's been done to so many people everywhere, what's going to be done to more people if I don't fight… it's not fair! None of it is right! I want to… I want to stand up for what's right. I want to give people like… like me… I want to give them a reason to believe in justice."

Though I still hadn't opened my eyes, I could almost see him grinning. "An answer worthy of my grandfather's clan."

A smile of relief crept across my face.

Then Kain spoke again. "Bahamut, King of the Dragons! You have heard the testimony of this boy, Zacharias Riomodos Shade. You have given your gift to the countless Dragoons before my time, and the countless Dragoons still to come after I am gone. Let him now receive that which you have given to us. Let his goals of justice and peace be fulfilled. This I humbly ask of you.

"Zacharias, open your eyes."

I did so, and I saw him kneeling before the fire. He nodded to me, and I hesitantly did the same, feeling the heat of the flames caressing my body.

He then did something I had not expected him to do. He proceeded to remove the top half of his armour, starting with his armbands, and then his shoulder plates, and then his breastplate, and all the layers of protective garments underneath. And then he removed his helmet, and from within it spilled waves of long, golden-blonde hair, tossed this way and that by the wind, just like my own ebony-coloured locks. He knelt there, his muscular torso, shoulders and arms exposed to the wind, and nodded to me, indicating that I should do the same.

After only a moment of hesitation, I slowly began to remove my robe, pulling it over my wild, tangled hair and tossing it aside, leaving me dressed in nothing but the pants I was wearing underneath it. The chill of the night air immediately pierced my exposed skin, but I sat up straight and proud, feeling the goose bumps rippling across my flesh but staying resolutely still, distantly feeling the warmth of the flames.

He nodded once again, and then he put out one hand, holding it above the summit of the fire. I didn't need him to give me the cue this time. I put my own hand out and placed my palm against his. Our fingers locked together, and we could feel the heat beneath them.

And then he spoke. "You must put our hands into the heart of the fire."

I'm fairly certain that the colour drained from my face as he said that. For the first time since the proceedings had begun I hesitated for quite a while, my mind unable to push away the uncertainty.

Kain noticed. "You must test your resolve and your courage. If you are brave, noble, and you trust in the strength of your heart and mind, neither of us will feel the burning of the flames. But you must not give power to your doubts."

I nodded to him, but I was still feeling uneasy. Even though I knew it was just the two of us there in the small clearing amid the mountains, it felt as though there was a great circle of people staring at me, watching and waiting to see what I would do. It felt as though every Dragoon who had ever lived – as though the Dragon King himself – were witnessing the event. I almost felt as if my father were watching me as well.

And then I closed my eyes, and I could almost hear him in my mind, telling me not to be afraid, telling me that everything would be all right… and to trust in myself, just as he'd always trusted in me.

Without another moment's pause, I fiercely brought our hands down into the heart of the fire.

At first, I thought I had burnt myself, and I almost cried out. But then I realized that what I was feeling wasn't the heat of the flames. There was something spreading from within the fire, starting in the very tips of my fingers and moving upward, right up through my arms and into my body. And then, all of a sudden, everything turned black, and instead of the brightly burning fire I saw a picture, much like the books etched in blue when I had cast the Float spell, but this one in white and spreading out from the centre of my mind. I saw lines of white fire moving this way and that, crossing each other and creating shapes of all sorts and sizes.

And finally, the lines came together to form the most wondrous image I had ever seen. Within my mind's eye, a glorious dragon spread his wings, so vast and so wonderfully powerful that I felt my mouth drop open as I watched him. And his jaw opened, and from within it erupted a bright, white light, and I felt it surge through me, piercing every inch of my body and flowing through me.

When the image faded and I finally opened my eyes again, I was staring up at Kain's face, and the look of satisfaction drawn across its surface. I was lying on the damp grass, the fire still burning nearby, and I felt horribly tired. But I was smiling, and I could still feel the power of the Dragon King flowing through me. And before my vision blurred and I fell into an irretrievably deep sleep, I heard Kain speak one more time.

"Welcome to the Dragonian Order," he said.

* * *

The next day had dawned beautifully and brightly, and as midday approached, Kain and I stood side by side in the desert of Damcyan. 

We had begun travelling at dawn from our little clearing, me once again clinging to his back. It would take some time and a fair amount of training, he said, before I could do what he did, leaping across the mountains as easily as though he were merely walking along a forest path.

However, the surge of power I had felt flowing through me the previous night had not dimmed, and as Kain had explained to me, it was the first step in the transition from man to Dragoon. Now I possessed the capability to jump much higher than I could before, and I would also learn to enhance my reflexes and agility. He told me that as soon as he was able he would train me in the use of a spear. I was ecstatic; I felt as though I were finally edging closer to making my far-off dream into a reality.

He had also told me that not every man was capable of becoming a Dragoon, of being accepted by the Dragon King, and I consequently felt deeply relieved that I had passed this test. "So," I had asked him before we left, "does this mean that you've been forgiven? You know, for what happened?"

His answer was vague at best. "All this tells me is that I have been deemed worthy of passing on the Dragoon heritage. Whether I'll ever be able to uphold the same standards of honour and duty that are treasured so deeply by my people – our people," he'd added, and I had flushed with pride, "isn't a question I can answer right now. Maybe someday."

I always wondered what he meant by that. I still do, sometimes.

Now we stood upon the sands of the desert by the border of the mountain range, and I stretched my arms widely, feeling my muscles begin to relax as they adjusted once again to their freedom from Kain's back. I glanced at him. "Well? You promised."

He sighed. "I really don't think we have time for this."

"Just a few times!" I said, stretching my legs. After I had awoken that morning, on Kain's advice, I had ripped away the lower half of my robe to give my legs greater freedom. As it turned out, it had also made it easier to hold myself onto his back.

Kain pawed at the sand with his foot. "Fine. Twice, and then we need to hurry to Damcyan."

I smiled. "You're the best, Kain!"

"Yeah, yeah. Now, close your eyes and focus like I told you."

I stood stock still, shutting my eyes. I began to picture the sky and imagined reaching up to touch the clouds, channelling all the power I could feel within my body and diverting it to my legs.

"Can you feel it? Can you feel the energy in your feet?"

"Yes," I said, "but it's hard… it's hard to keep it there."

"I know. With time, you'll learn how to control it. Now, keep that sky pictured in your mind, and let the energy propel you upward."

I stood still for a few more seconds, trying to keep the energy in my legs as best as I could. Then, finally, I opened my eyes, looked skyward, crouched low, and leapt with all my might.

I hadn't been expecting to jump as high as I did on my first try, so I suppose my own scepticism is partly at fault for what happened next. I found myself about three metres in the air, and then my earth-bound instinct took over and I panicked. I fell, my arms and legs flailing this way and that, and landed painfully on the balls of my feet, collapsing to my side and tumbling across the sand.

Nearby, Kain was laughing heartily. "Well, well. Looks like we were both taken by surprise on that one."

I scowled at him as I pushed myself up, brushing sand out of my hair. "What do you mean?"

He was still chuckling. "I didn't expect you'd be able to get that much height the first time you jumped, but apparently neither did you. The descent is just as important as the ascent, Zacharias. If you're not prepared, you're eventually going to have a lot more to deal with than a bruise or two."

I stood, beating the sand off of my clothing. "So, what should I do?"

"Why do you think I told you to picture the clouds above you before jumping?" He took a few steps closer. "If you're always prepared to reach the summit of the sky, you'll always be prepared for anything less. If you expect less than you accomplish, you'll keep doing what you just did."

I nodded. "Can I try again?"

"Yes. And this time, don't underestimate your abilities."

"Right." I closed my eyes again, and this time, as I pictured the clouds I imagined myself flying above them, looking down on the little dots that were people and places far below me. I imagined falling from the clouds, the ground zooming toward me, and I imagined bracing myself to land comfortably where I had started. And again, I pushed all the energy I could muster into the lower half of my body.

Once again, I jumped.

The air rushed past me and my hair blew away from my face. The brief second that must have passed before I began to descend felt like much longer. And then I looked down, and this time I wasn't afraid, and I suppressed the brief moment of panic I felt. As the air whistled past my ears, I braced my feet and prepared my legs. This time, I landed squarely on my full feet and bent my knees to absorb the impact. I still lost my balance and fell forward, but it was a much more graceful landing than my somersault had been only a few moments before.

Kain whistled. "Well done. That must have been your own standing height about three times over. Not bad for a beginner."

I sighed as I stood. "My landing was still rough."

But he shook his head. "You'll learn to control that. You did a much better job of it this time. You were ready."

"Yeah." I walked over to him, clapping my hands to get the sand off of them. "I guess it just takes practice."

We started to walk. In the distance I could see a shapeless shadow that could only have been the castle of Damcyan. I could see the waves of heat emanating from the sand before us, and I wiped a few beads of sweat from my brow. If I'd been tempted to complain before about the cold, I decided, I would have welcomed it now compared to the heat we were trudging through. I glanced sideways at Kain and felt even warmer at the thought of walking through this desert in all that armour.

Half an hour of walking passed in silence. Every so often I'd watch Kain, wondering what he was thinking about. His face was an impenetrable mask, but there was a purpose and strength to his strides that I found myself trying to emulate; I hoped it would make me look braver than I felt. Every so often I looked at the spear strapped to his back, remembering how uncomfortable I had been, pressed up against it for hours at a time. And then I wondered if I'd have a chance to see him use it, or if I'd be too busy fighting my own battles to notice.

By now, I could see Damcyan much more clearly. I could make out the tower, the battlements. The waves of heat had rescinded somewhat, though I was still very warm.

"So, who are we going to see in Damcyan?" I asked him, partly to distract myself from the temperature.

"Their current reigning monarch is Prince Edward, I believe," he replied. "I understand that his parents, the king and queen, passed away several months ago."

"Do you think they'll be able to fight off the attack?"

He shrugged. "I hope so, but the Red Wings are very powerful. You saw that yourself."

"So, what if they can't? What will we do?"

His face was grim. "We'll try and beat them to Fabul. I just hope it won't get to that point."

I thought about it for a minute. "What if… what if they get all the Crystals? What will happen then?"

Kain was silent for several moments before he answered me. "I don't know. I don't know why the king wants them so badly. But there must be something to it, or he wouldn't—"

Suddenly he stopped in mid-stride. I turned to him. "What? What is it?"

His eyes were narrow. "Do you hear something?"

I frowned, and then strained to hear what he was hearing. "No… wait, yes… yes I do. It's like a buzzing, or something."

He shook his head. "No, it's more like a rumbling… or a…"

He trailed off, gazing into the skies to the east. His eyes began to widen, and he reached for his spear. When I followed his gaze, I felt my mouth run dry.

Approaching the castle from the east were three airships.

"They're early," said Kain. "They went around the mountains. Damn it, I should have thought of that… the wind on the east side of the mountain range is usually northward."

I found myself wishing I had a weapon to defend myself with. "Can we make it in time?"

"We have to try." He took off across the sand, and I was hot on his heels.

I shed even more sweat as we ran, but I barely took notice. The looming shapes of the Red Wings' airships grew more and more intimidating with every passing second; it was clear that we wouldn't make it to the castle before they did, but still I kept running. I couldn't begin to imagine reliving what had happened to Mist. I couldn't let it happen to Damcyan. I just couldn't.

Several more minutes passed and I watched as the ships inched closer and closer. Kain had managed to close much more of the distance than I had; I could barely see him anymore against the blurry shapes ahead of me. I saw panicked citizens at the castle ahead, barely the size of ants in the distance, and Damcyan's soldiers rushing to defend them.

And then Kain suddenly screeched to a halt, and as I caught up with him he yelled to me. "Get down!!" I couldn't understand what he meant, but already he was already tackling me to the sandy desert.

There was a resounding explosion, and sand flew up from the source of the blast. It whipped past us, stinging my exposed skin and lashing my hair. When I looked up, I saw a large piece of the eastern tower fall away toward a group of soldiers below. "They have explosives?!"

"Come on!" was all Kain said, and as he took off again I could do little but follow, preparing my magic as I went.

There was another explosion, but this time I didn't dive for the ground. I was forced to cover my eyes, and when I looked up I saw what had happened. There was a sizeable hole in the roof of the northern part of the castle. There was a shower of arrows from the ship that had dropped the powder keg, and then I saw several soldiers sliding down ropes and leaping into the breach.

Kain finally reached the castle gates, and I was right behind him. He whipped out his spear and lunged at the nearest Baronian soldier, who fell in seconds. Two more were immediately upon him, but he was faster than they were and made short work of them. The two soldiers of Damcyan who had been trying to fight them off thanked him and said something to him, beckoning him inside.

At this point I finally caught up to him, panting heavily. "They've nearly made it to the Crystal chamber!" said Kain as I stopped running.

I forgot my fatigue in an instant. "No! Which way? Can we make it?"

"We'll have to try. I'll lead the way and you—watch out!"

I spun around. One of the airships had landed nearby and two Baronian soldiers dismounted and ran toward me, swords drawn, but I was ready. I called up my second-tier Bolt spell and launched it with as much force as I could muster at the advancing men, and both fell in a second, twitching violently.

But already more of them were coming. "We have to run for it!" I heard Kain tell me, and after a moment I turned and ran for the doors, keeping to his heels.

The castle shook as we ran through it. I heard another explosion, and I heard the screams of women and soldiers alike. Some rubble fell from the ceiling and I had to dive to the side to avoid it. The Damcyanic soldiers led us past the staircase, down one hall and then another, headed through the bowels of the castle and, hopefully, toward the Crystal room.

We ran through another door and slammed it behind us. "Barricade the door!" yelled Kain, and I turned around, calling up a second-tier Ice spell. The cold blasted from my fingers and soon the door was nearly hidden behind a thick wall of ice and frost. I glanced around; only one other door led out of the small room, and it wouldn't be long before the Baronian soldiers found a way through my handiwork.

Meanwhile, Kain was talking to the two soldiers. "Where's the Crystal room?"

"Just through this door!" said one of the men. "We have to make our stand here. Otherwise, the Crystal's theirs!"

I hurried over. "Where's the prince?"

The two men both bowed their heads. "He… he was in the throne room when one of the powder kegs hit. We don't know if he survived."

A moment of somber silence passed before Kain spoke. "Listen, we don't have time to mourn him right now. Those soldiers will be here any minute. What can we do?"

They drew their swords. "All we can do is fight! We're willing to lay down our lives to defend our Crystal!"

Kain nodded, raising his spear. "Hopefully that won't be necessary."

At that point, there was another series of concussive blasts, and I glanced around, trying to pinpoint the source. "Now what?"

We heard another blast, and Kain crossed to one of the bare stone walls, putting his ear up to it. A second later, he leaped back. "They're coming in through the walls! The rest of the battle is just a diversion – they're blasting their way in!"

Another blast sounded, and then there was an eerie silence, broken only by Kain's cry: "_Get down!!_"

I did, and not a moment too soon. A second later, another explosion sounded, this one louder than any of the others. Stone and wood went flying everywhere throughout the room, and the heat scorched my robe and my hair. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the Damcyanic soldiers collapse to the floor, dead.

I got to my feet as quickly as I could, seeing Kain and the other Damcyanic soldier doing the same. There was now a gaping hole in the western wall, lined with chipped stone and filled with smoke. We could hear the blasts from outside even more clearly, but in that room, for a long, painful moment, everything was silent and still.

And then everything happened at once. I heard the pounding of footsteps and Kain's battle cry, and then Baronian soldiers poured in through the hole, swords drawn. Everything became a blur before my eyes. Kain slew one enemy after another, and the Damcyanic soldier fought just as bravely beside him. They were quickly being overwhelmed, and the next second I was calling up my second-tier Fire spell, blasting as much heat as I could into the gaping hole in the stone. I heard cries of surprise and pain from the other side, and I couldn't resist a grin of satisfaction.

But they were still coming. Kain's spear spun this way and that, barely a blur as he swept it left and right, dove, plunged and pierced with deadly accuracy. I began to send volley after volley of flame, cold and lightning blindly into the hole. Invaders fell left right and centre, and I leapt over to join Kain, standing and fighting beside him as he waged war with his spear.

But eventually there were too many to hold off. I looked around for the Damcyanic soldier, only to find him lying dead near the hole. "We can't hold out like this any longer!" I yelled.

As if on cue, the door that had been shielded by my wall of ice exploded into bits, and I shielded my eyes. When I reopened them, I could see more soldiers heading straight for us.

Kain didn't waste a moment. "Come on!" he yelled, backing away and tearing through the Crystal room door. I followed him through, blasting as much flame as I could muster and trying as hard as I could to push them back. But already my magic was wearing thin. I wouldn't be able to hold on to it much longer, I knew.

I vaguely heard Kain say something, and then I looked up. Right above the door was a precarious stone balcony. I don't know what it was that gave me the idea, much less where I found the energy to do it, but I felt myself moving my hands upward and aiming as strong a blast of lightning as I could toward the balcony. There was a horrendous cracking sound, and then the entirety of the balcony, along with part of the stone wall and great, wooden door behind it, plunged to the floor, collapsing atop the advancing soldiers, most of whom barely had time to scream before they were buried beneath the avalanche of stone and chipped wood.

There was a frightening moment of stillness.

And then I allowed myself to breathe, and I felt Kain's strong presence next to me. He put a hand on my shoulder. "Well done," he said.

I nodded weakly, too weary to even utter a thank-you.

We turned around, looking up the stone steps of the altar at the Crystal on top. Kain began to climb up the steps and I followed him, eager to look at the magical piece of stone we had worked so hard to defend. It glowed brightly, sending its light bouncing across the pristine glass surfaces of the room, and filled us with warmth as we approached.

Nearing it, I couldn't wipe the grin off of my face. We had won. We had really won. I stood there, staring down upon the crystal we'd fought so hard to defend. It was no larger than my own hand, and though the exterior was the deepest colour of blue I could imagine, there was a red glow emanating from inside it.

"The Crystal of Fire," I whispered aloud.

Kain nodded. "It will take Baron some time to reconstruct their forces, but they'll be back."

I looked at him. "We should try and find the prince. He might still be alive."

"Yeah." He turned. "Finding our way out of this mess ought to be a challenge."

I laughed and glanced around for myself. "I think we'll manage."

And then we both stopped. I looked at the pile of rubble. Kain looked at the crystal. Then we looked back to each other. And in the same moment, we both had the same thought:

It was too easy.

At that moment, we heard a soft cracking sound. We glanced around ourselves; Kain held his spear at the ready while I once again prepared my magic. But try as we might, we couldn't see where the sound was coming from.

And then Kain looked down from the altar to the north wall. "Down there!" he whispered.

I looked, and sure enough there were deep cracks forming in the stone. They spread further and further, getting deeper and larger with every passing second. "What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know. Be ready."

After only a few seconds passed, the wall suddenly burst inward, the chips of stone flying into the Crystal room. My mouth involuntarily dropped open; the gaping hole was the mouth of what was now a tunnel through at least five metres of solid stone. They couldn't have burrowed through that much! It was impossible! But I could see sunlight flowing in from the outside, and sand was blown in through the tunnel. There was no doubt about it.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and as I turned to look, I gasped aloud. "Kain! The Crystal!"

It was hovering of its own accord above the pedestal, and as Kain turned to look, it flew over his head and off of the altar, making a beeline for the tunnel.

"No!!" Kain yelled, leaping over the side of the altar and hurrying through the tunnel. I was right behind him, bolting after the Crystal and out into the open, sandy air. It didn't take me long to catch up with Kain; he stood stock still at the mouth of the tunnel, his spear at the ready, and when I arrived to stand next to him, I saw why. For all the sand blowing about, I couldn't see him clearly. I couldn't even make out the features of his helmet. I could see a cape waving about his shoulders, one I hadn't seen before. But there was no doubt in my mind as to who this man was.

"Well, well," came the dark, haunting voice across the sands. "I certainly didn't expect to find you here. And all this time I thought you were a good little subordinate."

My face twitched with rage as I watched him. The dark knight. It could only have been him.

"You…" said Kain quietly. "I should have known you were behind this, Golbez."

"Oh, come now," said Golbez, slowly walking closer. "I think we understand each other well enough by now to know that we're on the same side. We… both want the same things, do we not?"

"That's not going to work!" Kain said fiercely. "I've changed! I'm fighting for a better cause now!"

"In order to retrieve your lost honour, I suppose? If that's true… why, then, didn't you tell dear old Cecil about me? You were always so spiteful of him, and now, I suppose, he is the one responsible for your change of heart? Don't you think that's a little… manipulative?"

Kain bared his teeth. "I told you, it won't work! Hand over that Crystal, or I'll kill you!"

Golbez sighed. "Oh my. I daresay your liege will be disappointed to hear that."

Kain narrowed his eyes momentarily, interpreting the statement. Then they widened again. "You've been behind all of it, haven't you? This is all your doing!"

Golbez laughed, a long, deep, hearty laugh that chilled me to the very bones. My face was a picture of rage. My fingers twitched. My only thoughts were of vengeance.

And then he looked at me. "Who is this urchin you've brought along with you?"

My eyes flashed yellow. "What, you don't remember me? I don't seem familiar?"

Kain looked at me sharply. "Zacharias…"

Golbez laughed again. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. If we had met before, I'd most likely have killed you already."

"Leave him out of this!" said Kain fiercely. "This is between you, me and that crystal! Hand it over!"

Golbez sighed again, a much deeper, dramatic sigh. "I had so hoped that I could find a use for you… we could have done so much together." He then lifted his head. "Oh, well. Goodbye, Kain."

And then he raised his hand.

"_No!!_"

Without thinking, I dove in front of Kain and released my second-tier Bolt spell just as jagged lightning branched out of Golbez's own fingers. They met in midair, and for a long, painful moment, the war was between myself and the dark knight, the electricity between us setting the very sand beneath it to the air. I poured all of my energy into my spell, but I knew it wouldn't be much longer before I lost the last of my power.

Finally, my strength gave out and I collapsed to the sand, panting heavily.

"Zacharias!" Kain was at my side in a second. I could barely lift my head to look at him.

But Golbez was already advancing on us, and I felt myself lifted into the air and then tossed aside as easily as though I were nothing but a rag doll. I landed roughly on the sand, feeling the harsh texture scraping my skin. Had I more breath in my body, I'd have cried out in pain.

Golbez was chuckling. "How amusing. I believe I'll leave the boy here. The heat of this desert will provide him a sufficiently unpleasant death."

"You son of a—" Kain's speech was abruptly cut off. I could barely move and I couldn't speak, but tears flooded my eyes; I could hear him choking, gasping for breath. I heard his spear fall to the ground, and I heard him do the same. I remember my last thoughts before I succumbed to the pain. I remember thinking – knowing – that Kain was dying… that he was about to die, just like my father, and I was powerless to do anything about it. I heard Golbez muttering something, but I couldn't understand him. My hearing was failing. My vision was blurry. I could barely breathe.

_His eyes were open, but they stared sightlessly at the ceiling high above him. His mouth was ajar, but stained red within by his blood. My hat fell as I buried my face in his robes, my tears saturating the familiar, comforting fabric. But the comfort was gone; the body within the fabric held no more life in it than the sharp blades that had pierced it._

"Kain…" I whispered hoarsely before I was consumed in darkness.

* * *

The stars were bright and numerous. The view of the night sky was nearly as clear as the previous night, amid the mountains, above the rest of the world. The two moons, though, were nowhere to be found, consumed in the darkness of the night. The sand felt cool on my feet, as did the breeze that swept the grains about my legs. 

The remains of my robe lay discarded a few feet away. My torso was bare to the elements, but I welcomed them. I defied them to move me, to even make me shiver. There were tears in my eyes, but I made no sound. There were times for sound and times for silence, I had decided.

This was a time for silence.

I was lost in my mind, just as I had been so many times before. But this time was different. There was pain, to be sure. There would always be pain. My father was dead. Allana, and now Kain… dead. The life I had so very recently started to rebuild was cut short once again. Twice I had faced the dark knight. Twice I had failed to stop him. And twice now would I have vowed revenge.

I remembered what Kain had said about the dark knight. "He is not an evil man," he'd said. "I swore as he did to bring down the kingdom of Baron." And now… where was that man of whom he had spoken, this good-natured humanitarian? The man who had repented, who had resolved to right his wrongs?

Golbez.

I now knew the name of my prey, of the man I would bring down with my bare hands should the need arise. He had taken everything away from me, and now it was time for me to pay him back in kind. I would make him suffer as I had suffered. I would make him regret his betrayal of Kain, the man who had so quickly become my mentor. And I would avenge them all.

But where I had failed before, I would now succeed. Where I had allowed myself to be consumed by my emotions, I would now let myself be guided by nothing other than my resolve. The boy I had once been, the boy who felt impassioned about the protection of the innocent… that boy was dead. That boy would no longer live within me. Sympathy was for the weak. The strong would fight, and the strong would win. The strong would believe in nothing other than the ultimate justice, dealt to the evil ones poisoning the world with their corruption. I would hunt them all down. I would destroy them all.

Starting with Golbez.

I looked down at the spear I held in my hand, the only lingering memory of the man who had begun to teach me the Dragonian ways. I would become a more powerful Dragoon than he could ever have imagined, and I would lash my enemies with the dragon's flame. I would create my own brand of magic, the Dragon's Magic… and I would use it to become more than I ever imagined I could be. I could do it. I _would_do it. There was nothing stopping me.

I took a few steps farther out into the desert. I could see the mountains off in the distance. I would have to reach them before daylight. And when I reached them, I would find my way into their depths and I would train. I would make myself stronger. I would do as Kain had said I should do.

I turned away from the desert and wandered around the walls of what had once been the castle of Damcyan. It was unrecognizable. The kingdom it had once been was gone. Would it ever come back? I didn't know. I didn't care. Perhaps Prince Edward was alive somewhere, and perhaps other citizens had survived and fled into the desert. But I didn't know. And I didn't care.

Soon I was approaching the steps the led to what no doubt used to be the magnificent entrance. I walked past the splintered remains of the door, up the crumbling stone steps. With every staircase I climbed I found more bodies, almost all of them dead Damcyanic soldiers with the occasional Baronian corpse here and there. The people of Damcyan had fought bravely. But Kain and I had disposed of more Baronian filth than any of these Damcyanic men had. They were unprepared and disorganized, and had ultimately failed miserably.

That was a mistake I would never make.

Finally, I reached the top of the last staircase and walked slowly into what was once the throne room. More rubble lay in piles along the floor. Great stone columns had fallen, and the gaping hole for which the Red Wings' powder kegs were responsible had grown even larger, letting in the starlight. I gazed into the sky once again, searching for familiarity, comfort, or perhaps wisdom, but finding none.

And then I looked down. Lying in the middle of the room, atop a small patch of carpet miraculously devoid of rubble or wreckage, lay the corpse of a young girl, perhaps only a few years older than I, serene and peaceful in death. My breath caught in my throat as I neared her, for her hair was a brilliant colour of red and swept about her shoulders, and she wore a delicate yellow sundress that fluttered across the floor at her feet.

I thought of Allana.

Before I knew it, I was kneeling at her side, and tears were filling my eyes once again. Surely this girl was as innocent as the woman to whom she bore such close resemblance. And surely this was another soul that the dark knight had so unjustly claimed. The horror of this complete absence of compassion and remorse was inescapable.

But I closed my eyes, and the tears stopped flowing. I would fight fire with fire. I would fight without honour to defeat the honourless, without remorse to triumph over the remorseless. There would be nothing to stop me.

I opened my eyes again, looking down upon the girl. The starlight glimmered upon the softness of her skin. I would honour her, I decided. I would give her a proper burial before I left Damcyan, the desert, and the entirety of my old life behind… forever.

To this day I remember that moment. The few weeks to follow have over time become nothing more than a blur in my memory, but that moment and the ones that followed as I carried the girl out of the throne room and buried her in the sands of the desert… they will remain a part of my mind forever. Those moments carried the last lingering elements of my compassion, my sympathy, my sense of human decency. And to this day I have not forgotten how easily they were lost amid the fury of my lust for revenge.

It is at this point in my story that I stop to wonder just who it is that I have become since then. For the longest time have I wondered, but never have I thought so deeply as now. Given everything that I've learned since then, I have yet to understand how I continue to live with myself, to cling to this existence I've created. Perhaps I need to delve deeper to truly understand. But for all of my anger and inner conflict, it would be some time before my true purpose was made clear to me.

There was still so much I did not yet know.


	6. Interlude 2

**Zacharias **

* * *

Interlude 2

I stare at my reflection. I can't tear my eyes away. Where there once stood a man in the darkest of armour with a soul to match, there now stands a man whose past has been redeemed by what may become his future. I know that the face I am seeing is my own, and yet it seems somehow different… unfamiliar.

_The master watches from the tower – our tower. To his beck and call, I obey. I know nothing other than his order. I have become a prisoner in my own mind, unable even to scream... and the greed, the all-encompassing greed and hatred of the man I have become will haunt me in every one of my dreams should I ever be freed._

I can see the old spectre of who I once was, but the weight is lifted. Where there once was a prisoner of his own cowardice, now I have become more than I thought I could be. I have faced the bitter shadow of my past, and now I stand as a changed man. If anything, the sword I hold in my hand is proof enough of that.

_The spear I hold in my hand is not my own. It belongs to this horror, this revulsion that occupies my hands and feet, my heart – my mind. The darkness of my past and the crimes therein… they pale in comparison to what I have already done and what I will continue to do as long as I am bound to serving him… and I hate him. I hate him almost as much as I hate myself._

I hated him, I realized. Fighting my own shadow has taught me how much I hated the darkness to which I had pledged myself. The man in the dark armour. How I loathed him, loathed being him. And regardless of my success here, I know in the back of my mind that the wrongs I committed will never be forgotten… could never be forgiven.

_Will I ever be forgiven? Will the deeds I have committed be forgotten if I am freed from this prison of the mind? How can I know? I cannot. And I can never restore the honour I have already lost. There is nothing left for me now. And my Dragoon heritage and nobility… it now lies in ruin, and nothing I can do will bring it back._

Nothing I can do will bring it back… the voice that called me "my son…" What was it? Where could it have come from? There are far too many questions, far too few answers. I want to know. I want to know how the voice knew me, why out of all those who failed to do what I have done, I was chosen to succeed.

_Why was I chosen? Why couldn't there be someone else – anyone else – standing in my place? I can't bear it. I will never again be able to look myself in the eye after this. There will be too much pain, too much… too much to bear. All I wish is to plunge my spear deep into my heart, but I cannot even move my hands._

I find I cannot even move my hands. I find that all I can do now is stare at the mirror. I wonder if my reflection will once again come out and test me. I feel that I should face another challenge, or else do something – anything – to

_fight him, but I can't. I feel pain… I feel anguish… and slowly my mind is being taken over. My thoughts… they are no longer my own. And with every passing minute, I am helping him become stronger and stronger, and every day it becomes harder to_

understand what to do next. I will return to Mysidia, and I will go to Baron, and I will make the king atone for what he has done. But what if I can't? What if I fail? What if that light was mistaken to give me this

_pain and suffering? Zacharias is only a boy, and now he'll have not even a shred of the peaceful life he deserves to live. I can't even know for certain if he's still alive, or whether he's been_

wondering what became of the boy in Mysidia. I know that if I were to ask Rosa, she'd tell me not to worry, that I was only following orders, and that I know better now. And that's all true, but the fact remains that I killed his

_family, so why do I hate him so? Why do I feel such contempt for him? He was the closest I ever came to having a brother. And yet the darkness corrupting my mind makes me want nothing more than to_

find her and hold her in my arms. And I don't even know yet if she's safe, or whether she's already been

_calling to me, and I ignore her. But I still hear it. I still hear that voice, the one I fell in love with so long ago when we were_

the best of friends. How could he turn against us? Will he ever be the same again? Will I ever

_know him as a brother again? What will happen when we meet? Will_

we be forced to kill each other? Who will survive? And why

_must it be like this? What did we do to deserve to be _

ripped apart? And when – and how – will it end?

_Cecil…_

Kain…

_I wish you were here._  
I wish you were here.


	7. Chapter 5

**Zacharias**_  
_

_Fight the past with the arms one uses against the unknown future,  
Steal away the life of the hunted at the expense of the essence of the hunt,  
And one will find that the identity is as unchanging as the past itself,  
And that without the soul, the hunt will die before its true end._

* * *

Chapter 5

Mysidia.

It caught the sun's light as greedily as though it were dependent upon it for nourishment. It was a little, quaint sight… a sight I once would have hailed as my home, and yet which now seemed to me more foreign than the windblown wreckage that had once called itself the castle of Damcyan. Foreign… perhaps only because of whom I had become, but no. No, there was something else. Something deeper.

Pity flooded me as I thought about them in their blissful ignorance of the trials and tortures of the outside world. The death and bloodshed that had claimed my mentor, and the days and nights I spent in the mountains, gathering my strength, testing my skills… that was the reality of life, not the glorified daydream of peace that Mysidian children learned about. This was a time of strife, conflict… a time of war.

I had learned much about war. I had learned about the true state of affairs. Over the fortnight, I had become a recluse, but now there was nothing left from which I felt the need to hide. I was one with the fury controlling the hand that clutched my spear. And now, I knew everything.

Golbez was on the move.

I had watched the progress of his Red Wings, seen them flying overhead toward Fabul. Had I not been occupied by the pressures of my training, I might have gone to fight him. But no matter how many of the Crystals the fiend managed to gather, he would face death at my hands… even if I needed to enlist some aid to do so.

Now there was only one left. I had not yet seen any airships departing for Toroia, though I knew that it wouldn't be long before Golbez sent his army to claim the Crystal of Earth. However, the pause in the action that I needed was upon me, and I would do nothing that would waste it. For I had hunted down the man Kain held in such high esteem, and learned of the shipwreck and the direction in which the currents had sent him. And I had followed him here, to the great Mount Ordeals, only to find the remnants of his triumph. And now, I gazed from the summit to the little village, merely a speck in the distance, where I would find him.

The Paladin.

To say that I was in need of him would have been an overstatement of the facts. A recluse I might have been, but not with such isolated vigour that I would turn away from the upper hand I might need to face the despicable man in dark armour. And I knew that Cecil was fighting. Cecil would fight until there was no fighting left to be done. And he had already achieved a victory here and there – the shred of cloth left behind by Golbez's Fiend of Earth was proof enough of that.

It had taken a long time, but I had learned about the forces at Golbez's command, and I now knew that where there had once been four Fiends of the elements, there were now three. I couldn't help but be impressed by Cecil's aptitude. I didn't know what powers he'd had at his command before the fight that claimed Scarmiglione, but to have them enhanced by the holy power of the Paladin would make him a formidable ally.

Or, I thought, a useful pawn.

I chuckled to myself at that thought. It would take some time to earn his trust before I could manipulate him to do what I wanted… what I needed. But then I could use him to my advantage. And I would. If he was half the warrior Kain said he was, I decided, he should be up to the task.

And then I could take Golbez's life, the same way he had taken my father's… the same way he'd almost taken mine.

Without another thought, I leapt from the summit, streaking through the air in the direction of my old hometown.

* * *

In the three weeks since I had left, even in light of everything that had happened, Mysidia hadn't changed much. I entered the village and found everything almost exactly as I remembered it – though a few of the buildings were still somewhat charred, those which had been more severely burnt had been rebuilt, and now the village looked almost as peaceful as it always had been.

With the hood of my blue-black cloak shading my eyes from the invading sunlight, I glanced around in private wonder. Everywhere I looked there were White and Black Mages hurrying this way or that. There seemed to be some measure of excitement in the atmosphere – I could only assume it was Cecil's triumphant return as Paladin. To my knowledge, it would be the first time anyone had successfully come back from Mount Ordeals alive.

I also noted, to my brief amusement, that several familiar faces I passed by on my way to the village hall didn't so much as bat an eye as I walked by them, or at least, not out of familiarity. Those who did gazed darkly at me, as if they suspected me of some horrible deed, either past or future. Not one of them recognized me as Zacharias Shade, and I smiled to myself at that thought; perhaps I truly had changed.

And then the smile vanished as I saw a white mage in a particular hurry. She had her hood raised, but I could still see beneath it a face of pale skin laden with freckles, a mop of disorganized red hair, and a dazzling pair of green eyes. She, too, looked at me as I went by, but no recognition passed through those eyes of hers; there was only a brief hint of suspicion before she carried on her way.

But I didn't let her. "Nice to see you survived, Melody."

She stopped in her tracks, not turning around, but clenching her fists. "I… I'm in a hurry."

"I can see that. I didn't know you were so industrious."

I could see her bristling, and she finally turned around, a murderous look on her face. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, and I don't know how you know my name, but don't fool yourself into thinking strangers like you can just waltz into this village and—"

"Hey, now," I said, interrupting her. "Mysidia always used to welcome strangers. What happened to educating those who wished to learn?"

"I don't know what you heard about us, but things have changed, so I suggest you get on your way and leave us be."

She turned to leave once more, but I spoke again. "Melody."

She stopped in mid-stride, sighed heavily, and turned around one last time. "What do you—"

I stared straight into her eyes. I could see that she was searching for something in my own, trying to understand why, all of a sudden, the man she was speaking to seemed so familiar. I could see her eyes probing my hair, my chin, my nose, and then again my eyes, so many times she stared deep into my eyes. And then, finally, her mouth dropped open and she stumbled a step forward.

"Zacharias…!" she whispered.

I silently nodded. "Yeah. It's me."

I couldn't say anything else before I found myself nearly falling over at the force of her embrace. I stumbled back as she wrapped her arms around me so tightly I could scarcely breathe. I caught the fragrant smell of her hair, felt the tears descending from those electric green eyes of hers onto my own cheeks, and through it all I listened as she tried to speak through the fierce sobs that shook us both.

"Zacharias! I… I thought you… _we _thought you… after what happened to Lord Rio, we thought we'd never… and I thought I-I'd never… Zacharias, you're here! You're home! I… I can't believe it, I thought I'd never see you again…"

And so on. I held her gently and listened patiently. I couldn't deny that I was glad to see her again. But the child that would have once gripped her with the same fierce relief as she was currently pressing into me was no longer there. The man that held her now was holding her patiently, as a father would his child after returning from a long voyage.

Finally, she let me go and stepped back a few paces, as if to get a good look at me. I didn't blame her. I had traded my blue Black Mage's robes for something darker and more aerodynamic. The garments I now wore, strapped tightly to my body so as to prevent them from resisting my passage through the wind, were as black as the darkest ebony. Where my feet had once worn boots that were heavy and clumsy, the ones that covered them now were lighter, smaller, more precise. My cloak was such a dark blue that it was almost black, made of a material so light that air simply passed through it as if through nothing at all. Strapped to my back, the point of my spear – Kain's spear – glinted in the sunlight.

But she kept staring at my face, and I knew what she was looking at. Apart from the dark, weathered look of my skin that had been a by-product of my hours of exposure to the mountain sun, the battle at Damcyan, the one that claimed my mentor, had left its marks. I had a sizeable scar that traced a line from the centre of my forehead to the top of my right cheekbone, and various other marks, smaller ones, around my chin and neck.

I spoke before she had a chance to ask about them. "You seemed to be in a hurry. You never looked so frazzled before."

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she sighed. "Yeah, well… when Porom left I was given Priestess Springwater's apprenticeship. I've been busy."

"Porom left?"

She nodded. "She and Palom went with the Paladin, and... oh, Zacharias…" A different look crossed her face as she continued. "You should have seen him… you'd never have thought it to look at him before, but when he came back, he… he looked like a hero._Our _hero."

My frown deepened. "He's left already?"

"Yes, just yesterday. If only you'd—"

"Where did he go?" I asked, cutting her off.

She looked taken aback, but answered nonetheless. "I… I don't know. I was working in the village hall. But—"

"Right," I said. "I'm going to go and see the elder."

"Zacharias, wait!" She hurried to my side, grabbing a hold of my arm. I stopped, sighing, and turned to her. "What's wrong with you? Aren't you… aren't you happy to be back?"

I pulled my arm away. "I'm not here to settle back into my old life, Melody. I came here because I thought I'd find the Paladin, and now I need to know where he's gone." I turned away again.

I could hear the tears beginning to flow once more, and I stopped again, turning around to look at her.

She could barely force the words out of her throat. "Zacharias… I thought you…" She swallowed. "What's happened to you?"

I looked her in the eye. "More than you want to know."

Without another word, I turned away from her and headed on my way toward the village hall. I didn't turn back. Even talking to her for the brief time I had was having an effect on me I didn't want. I wanted to force away the compassion. The old child in me, the one that wanted to go and embrace her, to tell her everything would be all right, to tell her I would stay here with her and pick up where we'd left off… that child was dead to me, and I wasn't ready to let him back in.

Before I knew it, I stood before the door to the village hall. I pushed it open slowly and climbed the stairs into the main chamber. It hadn't changed at all since I left it. The walls were the same grey-beige stone, and the candles on the wall sconces still cast the same dim, gentle light into the halls. As I reached the top of the stairs and entered the foyer, I saw the elder speaking with two Mages. One was Priestess Springwater. I recognized the other, but I didn't know his name.

They looked up as they saw me, and the elder turned, looking me in the eyes. It was Priestess Springwater that spoke first. "I'm sorry, you'll have to leave – we don't allow foreigners into the village hall."

"I'm not a foreigner," I said.

Her eyes narrowed. "Is that so? I'm afraid I don't quite recognize you."

"I assure you," I said again, "I'm not a foreigner to this village."

The priestess looked to the elder, who was still staring appraisingly at me. The Black Mage standing next to him stepped forward. "Shall I escort our stranger away, my Lord?"

But the elder held up a bony hand, his black robe sweeping about him as he did so. He, too, stepped forward, and the Black Mage humbly backed away. The elder continued to advance until our faces were no more than a foot apart. And then, with no questioning tone hampering his voice, he spoke. "Zacharias."

I said nothing, but he nodded slowly. "It is you, indeed. You… you found your way back."

I nodded.

The priestess hurried to his side, staring at me as though I were a piece of unusual art whose message she was trying to understand. "Is it… is it really…?"

In answer, I reached up and lowered my hood. My hair flowed freely from within it, dancing about my face. My features were hardened, and I knew my eyes looked weary – I'd not have been surprised if there were dark circles beneath them.

The priestess backed a step away, her hands at her mouth. "Zacharias… it really is…" She slowly moved toward me, and then put each of her hands on my cheeks, taking in every feature of my face. Her hands were cool on my heated skin. I could almost feel her tamed energy. Presently, she also nodded. "It is you. I… Zacharias, I'm so sorry…"

She lowered her hands and backed away again, leaving me confused. I finally found my voice once more. "Sorry? What do you have to apologize for…?"

She was shaking her head. "No, please… please, you must tell me what happened, tell me where you were sent—"

"Ayana."

The elder's voice startled her into silence, and she folded her hands before her abdomen and bowed her head respectfully.

The elder looked from her to me. "We had thought you wouldn't be returning to us, Zacharias. Your father's memorial service…"

"It was also mine?"

He nodded. "In truth, when the priestess sent you away—"

"The priestess?" I looked at her again. "You were the one who sent me away? You… you saved me?"

She nodded. "I… I did all I could think to do. It was either send you somewhere else, or… or let you…" She couldn't finish her sentence, but she didn't need to.

"However," continued the elder, "we unfortunately didn't know where you had been sent. The priestess thought she hadn't sent you too far away, but when you didn't return, we came to the conclusion that you must have been thrown into the ocean, or worse."

I shook my head. "I… well, thank you, Priestess." Then I looked to the Black Mage, and I frowned. "May I ask…?"

The Mage was silent, and the elder answered for him. "This is your father's successor, Lord Remadon Flire." Lord Remadon nodded courteously to me.

I nodded back out of feigned respect. I recognized the name – my father would talk about Remadon occasionally, and what I decided to keep quiet was that he'd held the younger Black Mage in fairly low esteem. "Too ambitious and hot-tempered," he'd said. "He needs discipline, patience… he's going to hurt someone one day."

But I didn't say what I was thinking out loud. I merely nodded respectfully, my mind full of hidden disdain.

Lord Remadon, however, didn't follow suit. "Forgive me for saying so, elder," he said, "but I find it hard to believe that this is the promising, rebellious young Black Mage you and Lord Rio, rest his soul, told me about. A curious choice of uniform, to say the least."

Had this been said to me three weeks previously, back when I was the rebellious child he spoke of and still trying to prove my worth to my superiors, the comment would have had me trembling with contained fury. However, I was no longer that child, and all I did was grin coldly. "Things have changed," was all I said.

The elder looked sternly to Remadon. "That will do, thank you," he said, and then glanced at me. "Now, Zacharias… we would all like to hear what happened and what brought you back here. Perhaps over a cup of tea…?"

But I shook my head. "I'm afraid I don't have time. I don't intend to stay in Mysidia. Priestess," I said, looking at her, "thank you again. You saved my life, and I won't forget that. But I must know: where has the Paladin – Cecil – where has he gone?"

The elder narrowed his eyes, concern distorting his features. He shared a glance with the priestess before he spoke. "Zacharias… you realize, don't you, that he is a changed man? That he's accepted the power of the holy knight?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's exactly why I need to find him, and I will do so on my own if I must. But I would appreciate your help."

The Elder clasped his hands and sighed. "Zacharias… please, tell me why you are looking for Cecil."

I bowed my head, pondering my response. Should I tell him my true goal? No. But if I didn't give him more details he would never tell me where I needed to go, and finding Cecil could take much longer. Still, there was no reason to tell him everything.

Finally, I looked up. "I… I want to fight Golbez."

The elder's eyes widened. "Golbez? He's… but Zacharias, he's a very powerful man… and your strength…"

"I've changed," I said. "I've become more than I was. My strength is no longer what it once was… and I've learned more than I thought I ever could." I patted the spear at my back as if to emphasize the point. "Golbez was responsible for the death of my father, and I intend to avenge that death by challenging him.

"I know Cecil is looking to fight Golbez as well, and I… I want to offer him my assistance," I lied. "I need his help. I know I can't do it alone. So, please… help me avenge my father. Please tell me where he's gone."

The elder bowed his head, turning away. He stood in thought for a long time, and the priestess watched him intently. Lord Remadon kept a suspicious eye on me as he stood, arms crossed, waiting for the elder's decision. For my own part, I refused to acknowledge the new Lord Black Mage's presence, though I could see him fidgeting as easily as I could see the creases of concern that etched their way across Priestess Springwater's face.

Finally, still facing the stairs that led to what had once been the Crystal Room, the elder raised his head. "All right, Zacharias. Cecil has gone to Baron via the Devil Road. I believe he intends to infiltrate the castle."

I narrowed my eyes. "He can't be serious. Does he really think he can match Baron's forces on his own?"

"It would seem so. And he may well succeed; along with Palom and Porom – exceptionally bright young wizards, the pair of them – he is travelling with the Sage Tellah."

I didn't allow my facial expression to change, but I'm sure my astonishment was betrayed through my voice. "Sage Tellah? _The _Sage Tellah? How…?"

"I do not know," the elder replied. "I believe it is a matter of fate that they should fight together, a holy knight and one of the greatest magicians of our time. Whether or not the pair of them will be able to defeat Golbez, however, even with the magic of Meteo… that is something I cannot foresee."

I, of course, had learned that Golbez was nowhere near Baron at the moment, but I said nothing about it. Something else had caught my attention. "Did you say 'Meteo'? Sage Tellah knows how to use Meteo?"

The elder nodded. "Yes. The magic was sealed at the summit of Mount Ordeals, so he tells it. Let us pray that he is not forced to use it."

He finally turned around again. "However, if you wish to search for the Paladin…" He paused for a long moment, and then sighed. "You have my leave to go and do as you wish. I daresay I would be hard pressed to stop you at any rate."

I nodded, probably in a more curt fashion than I had intended. "Thank you, elder. And thank you again, Priestess." To Lord Remadon, I spared effort for nothing more than a quick glance. And then I turned around, and swept out of the village hall as silently and contemplatively as I had entered it.

I was thinking as I descended each step and walked back out into the open air. The Devil Road. It was so named for the energy it sapped away from each passenger that dared to make use of it. But even with my newfound skills, I had no other reliable way across the ocean – to get to the continent in the first place, I had stowed away on a boat travelling from Fabul to Silvera, and then traced the archipelago to the mainland – and so it seemed that the accursed Devil Road would be the only way.

I was still somewhat surprised that the Elder had decided to open the Devil Road at all. It had been sealed off for years, ever since Baron had showed signs of becoming more violent and power-hungry. But the more I thought about it, the more I understood how it could have come to pass; Baron had already come and gone and left destruction in their wake, so there was very little threat to be concerned with, and apparently Cecil had given the impression that he was capable of succeeding. For all my ulterior motives concerning the new Holy Knight, I found myself eager to see what Mysidia's citizens had seen in him.

I drifted from my train of thought and slowly realized that those very citizens had begun to take notice of me. Mages and wizards scurrying this way and that were giving me strange looks. Some of them stared in fear – children in particular seemed apprehensive of me. Others, men and women I recognized myself, couldn't help continually looking back for a second or third glance, as if out of familiarity. I wondered briefly if Melody had said anything about my return, but I doubted it highly; after our brief encounter, which seemed to have shaken her trust in me, it was unlikely that she would broadcast my presence. I decided that someone who had seen me on the way in must have realized who I was and subsequently informed others. I had forgotten how quickly word could spread in Mysidia. But it didn't matter. I didn't avoid eye contact but I didn't go looking for it either. I simply strode with my destination in mind.

However, when I arrived at the doorway that led to the portal known as the Devil Road, I found someone quite unexpectedly standing in my way.

"I knew it," said Melody.

I crossed my arms. "Get out of my way."

"I _knew_it," she said again, moving maliciously toward me. "You were going to follow him. You were going to go and challenge him."

I scoffed. "Challenge him? And why would I want to do that?"

She also crossed her arms in a mediocre impression of my own menacing stance. "Don't play dumb with me, Zach! I know what you've been thinking: just because he's up and become a Paladin doesn't change anything, right? He's still from the evil old kingdom of Baron, and you've got to stop him!" She laughed sarcastically, shaking her head. "I can't believe the elder didn't see right through you."

I sighed. "I don't intend to challenge him. I intend to help him find Golbez and, in doing so, avenge the death of my father. The elder has already given me permission to pass, and even if he hadn't I doubt you'd be well able to stand up to me. Step aside."

"What, so you can go on lying to everyone else? You don't fool me for a second!"

"So you're calling me a liar? That's funny, since not ten minutes ago you told me you didn't know where he'd gone in the first place."

"I knew what you were planning to do!" She stepped backward to the door. "I'm not going to stop aside for you, Zach. And frankly, I don't think you'd lay a hand on me to force me. I don't think you could if you tried."

I held her gaze for a few seconds after that, giving her just enough time to realize how wrong she was before I stepped forward and shoved her stumbling to the side with one quick thrust of my arm. She tripped over the hem of her white-and-red robe, falling clumsily to the grass, unhurt but humiliated. I looked at her once again in disdain before putting my hand on the doorknob.

"Zacharias!" She was looking up at me with tears beginning to form in her eyes again. The constant crying was starting to get on my nerves, not to mention bringing up unpleasant memories I'd been attempting to lock away, but nevertheless I looked back.

She was staring up at me with fire behind her moist eyes. "You've changed! This isn't like you! You were never this spiteful or… or… you were just never like this! What has happened to you? Why are you so… so _angry_? What happened to the Zacharias I knew, the one that wanted to protect the innocent and stand up for what's right, instead of all this… this… this obsession with revenge?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

"Why?" She stood up, angrily wiping the forming tears from her eyes. "Wasn't I always the one who you'd talk to? The one you could tell anything to? That hasn't changed!"

"You're wrong!" I turned back to her, my features darkening. "Everything has changed. Everything is different, whether you were a part of that change or not. Things can't be the way they were. It's too late for that." I shook my head. "And you aren't fooling me, either. All you wanted was to get in my way."

"Then why am I still here!"

I couldn't come up with an answer to that. But even if I could have, I wouldn't have needed it; she kept on talking. "I… I don't even know why I'm still here. You've obviously changed. You've obviously become something… something different. Something horrible. And you're not the Zacharias I once knew. But there's still something in you that's still… that's still _you_. So I'm here. And I'm waiting for that old Zacharias to come back to his senses and explain to me why he can't just come home, instead of trying to fight the man that may be the only hope that Mysidia – that the world – has left!"

I was still rendered nearly speechless. "What are you talking about?" was all I could say.

There were no longer any tears in her eyes, but there wasn't any anger either; all that was left was a vague indifference, as if she wanted me to stay and be the old Zacharias again, but knew that what she wanted wouldn't make any difference. "He… Cecil… he brought a sword back with him, and there was a carving on it: the Legend. _Our_Legend, Zacharias. He's the one who'll bring the world back into light from darkness. And all you can think about is going to fight him—"

"I told you, I'm not going to fight him!" I said, cutting her off and moving closer to her. Somehow, it seemed that the only way to get her off my back would be to tell her the whole truth. "All I want is to find and challenge Golbez, and I know that if I follow Cecil, he'll lead me straight to where I want to go. Frankly, I don't give half a damn about him or the Legend – for all I care, he and Sage Tellah and Palom and Porom can fight all they want and save the world, or die trying. I am going to fight Golbez and avenge my father, and if I have to use Cecil to do that, then so be it."

Her eyes were glued to mine, and I could feel her probing them for anything that might tell her I was deceiving her, that I was lying, that it was all an elaborate scheme, but I knew that she would find none. After several moments, I turned away to leave once more.

And then she finally spoke again. "Take me with you, then."

I stopped in mid-stride and sighed aloud. "What?"

"You heard me." She walked around me, her features hardened and her arms crossed. "Take me with you. If all you're going to do is find your way to Golbez, you don't have anything to hide, so having me around wouldn't be any trouble at all."

I groaned inwardly. That was all I needed: someone else to drag along behind me while I waged my vengeful war, even if it was Melody, and even though a part of me, no matter how I tried to conceal it from my consciousness, did miss her terribly. Memories briefly flashed through my mind: memories of our practice sessions, and other times we spent together, swimming in the ocean, showing each other the spells we'd learnt during lessons, and the times she'd listen to the stories of the Dragoons as I'd read them aloud…

But I shook them out of my mind. "No. You'll slow me down. I'm better off alone." I started toward the Devil Road again.

"And what if you don't find him?" she said, hurrying along beside me. "What then? What if you can't fight off the… I don't know, the soldiers or something, and you need help? What are you going to do then?"

"Die proudly," I shot back.

She laughed out loud. "Oh, that'd be just brilliant, wouldn't it? Instead of accepting the assistance my magic could give you, you'd just die. And then Golbez gets off scot-free with the murder of your father! Is that what you want?"

"Don't lecture me," I said to her, the words bringing another flash of memory back.

And she noticed. "Aha. You know I'm right. You need me, Zacharias. You can't do this by yourself – why else would you be looking for Cecil? You need his brute strength and Sage Tellah's healing magic, right up until you fight Golbez for yourself. And if you don't find him, you'll never manage it. You _need _me, Zacharias."

"I don't need anyone!" I was almost at the door.

And again, she hurried around me and stood in front of it. "I'm coming," she said, "whether you like it or not."

There was a long, tense moment as I stared into her eyes with as much menace as I could muster, but she was clearly unafraid, and unmoving.

Finally, I said, "I can leave you anytime I want to. I can go places you could never reach."

"Just give me a chance," was all she said.

Another moment, and then I sighed resignedly, inwardly disgusted at myself, and then further at the smile that crossed her lips. Together, we went through the door to the Devil Road, and she stepped on the portal first, fading out of view within seconds.

But I was angry and frustrated with myself as I watched the green glow disappear. Somehow, somewhere inside my consciousness, I had convinced myself that this was a decision I would regret making. I would be encumbered, my newfound abilities useless; I wouldn't be able to make a quick escape when I needed to, wouldn't be able to travel as quickly or for as long as I could before. All my training would be for nothing.

And in the same instant, two thoughts crossed my mind: first, that these anxieties must have been almost exactly the same as those Kain felt before he took me on as his protégé and brought me with him to Damcyan. And second, that even despite everything that made me nervous and anxious and angry about bringing Melody with me, on some unchangeable, undeniable and incomprehensible level, I couldn't have been happier that she'd showed up.

Torn by conflicting thoughts, I stepped into the portal, and the Devil Road swept me away across the seas to the close-but-so-far kingdom of Baron, where everything had begun.


	8. Chapter 6

* * *

**Zacharias**

_Innocence lost to the advent of war on a distant horizon  
Death known far too soon to far too many  
And the brutal construct of martial law  
In a city that struggles to maintain its own peace in tortured times._

* * *

Chapter 6

There is no experience quite akin to travelling by the Devil Road. To this day I have yet to find an accurate way to describe it. Though I had slept for several hours the night before, I felt when I arrived at the other end in Baron as if I had gone days without rest. It felt as if hours had gone by, though it had been nearly instantaneous. I expected night to have fallen, though it was still the middle of the afternoon. It was an inexplicable sensation of overwhelming weariness mixed with an unrelenting dizziness of the sort one would feel after spinning in circles for a few hours.

The moment I remember with the most clarity is the moment I stepped on the little, innocent-looking white circle to begin with. Immediately, I felt as if someone had closed his hand firmly around my heart and squeezed, leaving me breathless as the room around me began to spin. I was vaguely aware of a tinge of green colouring the surrounding stone walls and filling the room, but I scarcely had time to register this before the blur was swallowed in darkness.

After that I remember feeling as if I was being pulled, though the darkness was so complete one would be hard pressed to tell that I was moving at all. I was pulled with such a strength and force that I felt almost as if my limbs would be ripped from their sockets, unable to keep up the pace the rest of my body had set. But though I knew I was moving – at tremendous speeds, I could only imagine – I might as well have been motionless, for I felt no wind against my face and my hair hung limp by the sides of my head.

And then, just as suddenly, the darkness dissolved around me and I was standing atop a similarly innocent-looking white circle miles away from where I had just been, the green glow fading away to reveal a stone chamber like the one I had just left behind.

Melody was leaning against the wall for support, and it didn't take me long to understand why. As I began to move away from the pad, I was overcome by a wave of nausea so intense as to render me unable to stand. I collapsed onto all fours, clenching my eyes shut and forcing the contents of my stomach back into their proper place. Even as I fought to overcome my dizziness I couldn't help but note, with some perverse sense of amusement, that this experience must have been exactly why the Devil Road was sealed off for so long in the first place.

I gradually fought off my sickness and managed to pull myself to my feet, only to almost double over as the wound in my abdomen unleashed a pain that resonated to the very soles of my feet. Despite the ache, my eyes opened wide in surprise; the injury hadn't been even mildly irritating for weeks.

In the same instant, I felt a similar throbbing pain from the scar on my face, and I knew that the Devil Road was once again the culprit. Of course, in draining the user of his energy, it would exploit weaknesses. I wondered briefly what Cecil had felt upon arriving on this side.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, which refused to subside but which I did not intend to reveal as a weakness, I stood upright, fighting both uncustomary fatigue and nausea to walk over to the solitary door that led from the chamber.

"Zach, wait… please…"

Melody began to stumble toward me, trying and failing to hide her own dizziness and exhaustion. I spared her only a brief glance before I turned away once more, but the pain in my abdomen returned with a vengeance and I keeled over once again, grimacing.

Melody, much to my chagrin, was at my side in a moment. "Zach? Are you… you're hurt?"

"No!" I said, far too quickly. I rose once more to a stand and managed another two steps, but I couldn't gather the strength even to open the door, much less to walk through it.

Melody calmly returned to my side, her own bout of vertigo apparently having ceased or, at least, become more manageable. I turned away from her, furious with myself and my weakness. "You _are _hurt," she said to me.

The words weren't spoken with any inflection of triumph, only genuine concern, but they angered me all the same. "I'm… fine…!" I shuddered out.

She was not convinced. I felt her hand on my arm as she attempted to help me stand. "No!" I spat, jerking it away and stumbling awkwardly to the wall, where I leaned on it for support. "I don't need your help!"

I expected her to be angry and self-righteous, to lecture me about being so arrogant and childish or something to that effect. But she didn't rise to the bait. She simply folded her hands in front of her white robe, her expression resting somewhere between forced tolerance and boredom. "You can't even stand," she said simply.

I shot her a furious glance, which in my state likely looked not so angry as it looked constipated. "I don't need your help!" I repeated stubbornly. "I'll manage… on my own!"

She shrugged, and indicated that I should go ahead. I naïvely took this as a concession of defeat and rose once again to my full height, trying and failing not to let the pain show on my face. But even as I opened the door, I could feel it rising again, as well as I could feel the nausea returning to me. As the door swung away from me, I felt myself falling forward with it.

Melody was there in an instant, holding on to me and bracing herself against the frame of the door, helping me stand. I bristled, but my head was swimming with the ache in my abdomen and the spinning, ever-constant sickness. I was vaguely aware that I was walking forward, that she was helping me to walk forward with her, almost as well as I was aware of my own self-loathing.

The last words that escaped my mouth before I lost consciousness were shuddered out with as much hatred as I could muster. "This… doesn't change… anything…"

And the last I heard from hers was her calm, indulgent answer:

"I know."

* * *

I awoke to torchlight flickering on the wall.

I sat bolt upright, momentarily forgetting the unpleasant encounter I'd had with the Devil Road, and shut my eyes tight as I felt another rather unwelcome wave of nausea. Even as I put my hand to my forehead, I began to realize where I was and how I'd come to be there, and I couldn't shake a feeling of disgust, which deepened as Melody spoke.

"Oh, good, you're awake."

I couldn't bring myself to look at her. "Where did you bring me?" I asked her, though I already knew what the answer would be.

"This is the village inn," she replied. "You passed out after we crossed the Devil Road, and—"

"I know, I know!" I waved my free hand at her, and she took the hint, falling silent. The spell of dizziness finally passed and I looked around. This was indeed the village inn – nothing more than a room full of beds. There was a single window at one end, and through it I could see that the sun was still up. The sky was shrouded in thick clouds, to the point that the majority of the light in the room came from the two lone torches on sconces on two of the walls.

Unable to determine the answer for myself, I asked Melody how long I had been unconscious.

"Only an hour or so," she said. "The innkeeper was kind enough to let us stay here for free."

"Oh."

That was all I could say. I couldn't bring myself to thank her, annoyed as I was with my own weakness… what had been my inability to do something as simple as walk through a door. It wasn't until that moment that I realized the pain in my abdomen was also gone. My hand unconsciously moved to the wound as I thought about it.

Melody noticed. "That injury shouldn't bother you anymore," she said.

I looked up at her sharply. "What are you talking about?"

"The stab wound in your stomach, wherever it came from. It shouldn't bother you again."

I quickly moved my hand away. What else had Melody taken into her own hands since we arrived? What else was left?

"I spoke to the innkeeper," she said after a moment, and I bristled as I realized she was about to answer my unspoken question. "He told me there was a fight here in the pub yesterday between Cecil and some of the elite guard, and that he left this morning. Palom, Porom and Sage Tellah are still with him."

I fixed her with an exasperated stare. "Anything else I should know about?" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

She didn't take much notice of my attitude. She sat hugging her knees on the bed next to mine, her eyes averted. "They're scared," she said.

I scowled. "What?"

Her eyes rose to meet my own, and I saw fear in them, and pity. "The people of this town… of the kingdom. They're all afraid… and I don't blame them. There are soldiers everywhere, Zach. Armed soldiers, patrolling the streets. It's a nightmare. People are afraid of their own king, afraid that they're all going to get caught up in this awful war."

"They already are," I replied coldly. "They just don't know it yet."

"Some of them do," she said. "The innkeeper does. That's why he helped Cecil. That's why he's helping us."

I glanced at her sharply. "What do you mean? What did you tell him?"

"The truth. That we're here to help Cecil. That we're on his side. He's like the rest of the people, Zach. He just wants to see things go back to the way they were."

I thought about that. It made me think about Kain. He'd told me that the king of Baron wasn't always so hungry for power, that things had been different. I hadn't really been sure whether or not to believe him.

That, of course, was until I learned about Golbez. I remembered vividly the words he and Kain had exchanged at Damcyan. A dark look crossed my face as I thought about it. I remembered the look on Kain's face – probably mimicked by my own – as he learned how deep Golbez's influence went… as he learned who was really in control of the kingdom.

"Golbez…" I said quietly. Melody looked up, and I met her eye. "They don't know, do they?"

"What do you mean?"

I stood slowly, walking to the doorway and looking out at the counter where the innkeeper stood, running an old rag across its surface, his eyes full of hidden sorrow. "The people of Baron," I said. "They don't know who is really in control, they don't know about Golbez's influence… do they?"

She pondered the question. "I think… I think some of them know there's something deeper going on. But I don't think they know what, and they're all too afraid to try and find out."

I nodded silently. I was watching the front door of the inn. Three guards dressed in lavish blue uniforms had just entered, each shooting a contemptuous, superior look at the innkeeper. I watched as the innkeeper himself did and said nothing, smiling out of forced politesse to each of them as they walked by him. I could hear the guards guffawing loudly in the pub, verbally abusing the barkeep. _Three more under Golbez's control_, I thought to myself.

"I wonder what the rest of them do," I said aloud.

Melody looked up. "The rest of who?"

"The guards. The ones that aren't directly under Golbez's control. I suppose they just… follow their orders." _Like Kain used to_, I thought but didn't say.

Melody shrugged. "I suppose so."

"Then the soldiers that attacked us…" I thought of the men whose swords had murdered my father – the men to whom Golbez had given the order. "It makes me wonder if they were being controlled or if they were just…"

"Following orders?"

I looked at her. "Not a pleasant thought, is it?"

She didn't answer for a moment. She merely looked at me, her gaze more perforating than I cared to think about. And then, after another moment, she smiled.

I narrowed my eyes in response. "What?"

The smile lingered. "You… just now. You were starting to sound like your old self, just for a minute."

I scowled at her, turning away. "I told you, none of this changes anything. If I wanted to, I'd leave you behind without a second thought."

"I know."

"I mean it. I don't need you. I don't need anyone. I am _not _the same Zacharias anymore."

"I know."

"Then never say that again!"

She bowed her head. "Fine… I won't."

"Good." I kept staring out of the doorway toward the inn's entrance. I was angry with myself, mostly because Melody was right. I_ was _starting to sound like I used to. Why should I? What the hell should I care about the people of Baron? This was _my _mission, _my _vendetta, not some humanitarian freedom fight. All I wanted was to see Golbez dead for what he did to my father, what he did to Kain, and what he did to me.

Wasn't it?

I didn't have time to give the matter any more thought, because as I absently watched the front door of the inn, another guard, also dressed in the elite blue of the others, hurried through it, heading urgently around the corner into the pub.

"Something's going on," I said, picking up my spear, which had been lying on the floor beside my bed.

Melody stood. "What? What is it?"

"I don't know yet. I'm going to go and find out. You stay out of sight."

Not waiting for her to answer, I crept out of the bedroom. I heard the guards order the pub vacated, stood still as the three patrons and the barkeep left the premises. The innkeeper had disappeared from behind the counter – so much the better for me. I leapt deftly over it and strode silently and swiftly along the wall, carefully glancing around the corner until I could see into the pub and hear what was being said.

"…an emergency situation. You are all needed on the security team."

"Emergency situation?" I heard one guard complain. "Can't the rest of the team handle it themselves?"

_Interesting_, I thought,_ they certainly don't act like brainwashed drones_.

That changed very quickly, however, as the newest guard spoke again. "Captain Beigan has been found dead. Cecil has come back."

The change was instantaneous. I could almost hear the three other guards snapping into their roles. "He must be stopped now, before he makes it to the king," one of them said.

"Yes," agreed another. "If he does, everything will be undone."

"Even if Cagnazzo does defeat them, his disguise will be lost, and the master will lose Baron," added the third, making my spine tingle. Cagnazzo. Golbez's Fiend of Water. The 'disguise' he spoke of could only mean one thing. The king wasn't just under Golbez's control. The king was an impostor.

"We will rendezvous with the others at the castle gate," said the first guard. "They wait to begin the ambush."

That was all I needed to hear. I listened as their footsteps began to approach the counter, my spear at the ready. Silently and slowly, I placed my palm on the counter. From my place, hidden from view for the moment, I watched carefully as a miniature river of solid ice spread from my fingertips, along the counter and down the side, and then finally across the floor to the other wall. And then I waited, and watched.

And, right on cue, the first guard stepped on the slippery floor, and I watched in mild contentment as his feet flew out from under him and he dragged the other guards down as he attempted to regain his balance.

I was swift as lightning as I made my move. Within seconds I was over the counter, my spear plunging without hesitation. The first guard never rose from the floor. The second and third were more prepared, having drawn their swords as they saw me, but they didn't last long against the onslaught of my honed skills.

The last guard had managed to stay upright, and he was clearly the most skilled of the four. _Good_, I thought to myself, _I like a challenge_. He slashed forward with his sword and I leaped back, bringing my spear up to parry the blow. I then returned it with a lunge to his unprotected middle, but he was as quick as I was, dodging out of the way and thrusting toward my neck. I deflected the blow and landed a kick at his chest, knocking him backwards a few paces into the pub. I followed him, readying my spear again, aiming for his skull.

He ducked beneath the slash and his foot lashed out, knocking my own out from under me. I fell, but instinctively brought my spear up to protect myself from his predictable strike toward my head. I kicked him back again and rolled away, standing up within a second and lunging powerfully toward him.

He dodged again and my momentum carried the tip of my spear into the rack of wine attached to the wall behind the counter. The glass shattered and my spear rammed hard into the soft wood. I momentarily tried to pull it free, but the guard was fast, and I had to duck behind the handle to defend myself against his next strike. He swung at me a few more times as I dodged just as effectively, finally landing a blow against the side of his skull with the back of my fist. He collapsed to the floor, the sword falling from his grasp and clattering to the stone. He reached for it, but I stepped hard upon his wrist, prompting a cry of pain. Looking upon him in disgust, I memorized the expression on his face as I brought my fingers to bear and silenced him with a blast of electricity, killing him as casually as one might drink from a glass of water.

Done with the guard, I wrenched my spear free of the wooden rack and strapped it to my back, putting up my hood. Melody had appeared at the doorway to the inn, trying not to look at the three bodies she was standing next to and instead directing her look of fear toward me.

I ignored her obvious horror and crossed to where she stood. "Come on. We have more of them to kill."

She followed. "What happened? What did you hear?"

"The king's an impostor, Cecil killed someone called Captain Beigan, and the rest of the guards are planning to ambush him before he reaches the 'king'." I glanced back at her, my hand on the door handle. "Is that a good enough answer?"

I didn't wait for her to respond. I strode through the door without hesitation, taking in the scene. Clearly there had been some commotion with the news of Captain Beigan's death.

Crowds of people were huddled together, talking and watching in fear as several blue-coated guards appeared from every corner of the village, hurrying toward the road that led to the castle.

Before they left the village border, one of them turned to the people. "You will all return to your homes. Anyone found on these streets will be killed without hesitation. Anyone found to have helped the traitor Cecil enter the castle will be killed."

"Cecil's not the traitor, you are!" said one young boy, no older than twelve years old. His mother pulled him back, trying desperately to silence him.

In an instant, two of the guards had drawn their swords and begun to advance on the two. One of them brutally pulled the boy forward by his hair while the other held the mother back at swordpoint. "No!" she cried hysterically, tears flowing freely. "No, he's just a boy! He doesn't know what he's saying!"

"He'll be the first example of what happens to those who defy the Baron Elite Guard," replied the soldier coolly, holding the blade high. Another second, and he'd have removed the boy's head from his neck.

Fortunately, my spear was faster. There was an audible _clang_ as the two weapons made contact, and then my fist met with the guard's unprotected and unprepared face. An unpleasant cracking sound, and he stumbled backward, clutching his broken nose.

I shoved the boy back toward his mother; the other guard had left her alone and hurried over to his leader. "That was stupid," I said, looking at the child. "Next time you'll be short a skull."

I then turned away from the boy and his mother, who was grasping her son as tightly as she could manage as if he were about to disappear from view or else collapse inexplicably dead to the ground, and fixed the leader with an ice-cold stare as Melody appeared beside me, as angry as I was coolly indifferent. "Are you done with the innocent children," I said to him, "or would you like to further display your cowardice?"

Melody turned to the rest of the crowd. "Everyone get inside! Hurry!"

Most complied without hesitation. Two or three of the men stepped forward as if they intended to try and help, but at a fierce look from me they backed down and hurried away with their families.

The leader, despite his nose, looked vaguely amused. "I don't have time to deal with scum like you."

"Oh, I think you do," I replied. "It's either you fight me or you fight Cecil, and I can't allow you to choose the latter."

As I spoke, I took stock of the situation. There were at least eight Elite Guards, all of whom were armed with swords and sparkling clean uniforms. They wouldn't be too much of a challenge – certainly not with the help of Melody's White Magic – but I wasn't discounting the possibility that more could emerge from the woodwork or that there were already guards at the castle gate.

The leader, at my words, laughed out loud. "You can't 'allow' me to? You certainly don't seem to understand how it works in Baron. _We _make the rules, and you townspeople will either follow them or be killed."

He glanced to his side. "Abers. Brandhy. Kill him."

Two of the guards hefted their swords and, grinning with an abundance of self-confidence, rushed toward me.

To me, it was as simple as going through the motions. Parry, parry, thrust, dodge, parry, thrust. Within seconds I was lowering my spear, shaking it lightly to dislodge some of the blood, and the two guards, Abers and Brandhy, were lying dead at my feet, their swords abandoned.

The grin had disappeared from the lead guard's face. "You will pay dearly for that," he said.

In response, I hefted my spear once more. "Tell it to your master. I won't answer to anyone else."

The leader didn't reply. Instead, he raised his hand in a quick signal, and the five remaining guards under his command formed a line in front of him, their swords at the ready. After a moment, the leader nodded his consent for them to proceed. On cue, all five of the guards began to charge, quickly closing the small gap between us.

At that instant, there was a bright flash of blue-white light, and when it faded, I suppressed a grin as I watched the five guards, who were still charging with all the effort and speed they could muster, advance in slow motion. I glanced at Melody, who lowered her hands, and whose eyes were full of a cold malice I had never seen in them before.

"Go get them," she said quietly.

I didn't need any further encouragement. I raised my spear, channelling my electrical magic and charging the metal with my power. I moved swiftly, the guards under Melody's enchantment simply no match for my attack as I slew them one by one, stopping their hearts with the current surging through my spear. They fell, each falling to the ground utterly slowly in seeming defiance of gravity, their faces frozen in expressions of mingled horror and pain.

And the whole time I was aware of Melody watching with cold fury behind her eyes.

There was now nothing left on the leader's face other than genuine fear. I advanced on him, parrying the first and then the second of his attempts to hold me back, and landed a kick squarely in the chest, casting him to the ground and effortlessly knocking the sword out of his hand, sending it spiralling away to land on the cobblestone nearby. I stood with one boot on his chest, the tip of my spear pressed against his throat.

I heard murmuring behind me and noted with some amusement that many of the villagers had come back to the village square, having seen that I had defeated all but the last of the Elite Guard. _Perfect_, I thought. _Time to expose the truth._

"Now," I said, "enough of the pleasantries. Tell me what your master is planning."

The look of defiance he was trying to maintain faltered, and his eyes glanced nervously between the villagers and myself as he spoke. "I… don't know what you're talking about."

I laughed out loud. "You're not fooling me, and you won't be fooling these people much longer. Tell me the name of your master, loud enough so that they can all hear you."

The leader's face was blood red, and his expression nearly matched Melody's. "You will pay for this…"

"Say it!" I said again, pressing my spear slightly more forcefully against his neck.

He pursed his lips, but he was intelligent enough to know that he had no other choice. "Golbez," he said.

There were cries of horror from the crowd behind me. "No!" said one man. "It can't be true!"

"It's true," I said loudly. "He's been controlling this nation for years, and you all have been blinded to it. And now," I continued, never once taking my eyes off of those of the Elite Guard, "you'll tell them about the king."

His eyes widened. "No! I won't!"

"You have no choice. Where is the king of Baron? Answer!"

The fire in his eyes never dimmed, even as he spoke the words. "The king of Baron is dead."

More cries from the crowd. "And who sits in his throne instead?"

"Golbez's Fiend of Water. The great Cagnazzo."

This time, the noises from the people were far more angry. The fuse had been lit, and the blast was inevitably coming. "Kill him!" called one. "Rip out his heart!" called another. "Avenge His Majesty!!" called a third.

Beneath all the cacophony, the guard spoke once again, to me and only me. "My master will find you," he said, his voice seething with hatred. "He will come for you. I am already doomed, but your time is now short. Remember this."

And without another moment's hesitation, visible only to Melody and myself, he wrapped his hands around my spear and brought it forcefully into his own throat.

I swore loudly and pulled it away, but it was too late. The gagging sounds soon stopped and the guard fell motionless. Many of the crowd behind me cheered, though some of the mothers covered their children's eyes. I saw some of them hug one another out of the corner of my eye as they realized that Cecil was surely now fighting the impostor king, and would rid them of him forever. I could see their eyes filling with hope that a time of peace was ahead for them.

But I didn't care, and I was annoyed. I could potentially have uncovered more of what Golbez was planning, perhaps something about the Earth Crystal of Toroia. But now that chance was lost, and all I could do was what I had originally planned: find Cecil before he left Baron.

Melody appeared beside me. "I… don't know what to say…"

I looked at her, for the first time with an expression of approval. "I saw that look in your eyes. You're learning how to hate."

She met my eyes, and then looked away, shaking her head. "I don't want to learn how to hate. I… I'm not. I refuse to."

"You already are." I almost grinned. "You can't hide that from me."

"I don't want to be like you!" she blurted out, rounding on me. "Those guards… they almost killed that child, you know? That poor boy… look at him!" She motioned toward him, hugging his mother once more and jumping around in excitement at the notion that he may be rid of the hard times he had been forced to endure. "I'm only human! And when I saw what he was going to do…"

She shook her head and turned back to me. "But what you do is just… heartless! You – you don't even need a reason, you just hate them all!"

"And that's why I won," I finished, my slight grin disappearing. "I'm not about to grow sympathy because you think I'm heartless. I'm going up against a man without a conscience, and so I'm not about to let mine get in the way."

She was about to say more but I held my hand up. "It's not open for discussion. I'm going to go and help Cecil. You can either come with me and stop arguing, or stay behind. It's up to you."

I turned away and headed back to the village border. She stammered and puttered about for a minute, but finally followed with an exasperated grunt.

"Wait – young man, please!"

I stopped, turning around to see who had tried to get my attention. It was the mother of the boy who'd spoken against the guards. She caught up fairly quickly, but I spoke before she could say anything. "If you're about to thank me for my kindness, you can save your breath. Kindness had nothing to do with it."

Not surprisingly, she seemed taken aback. "I… well, if you say so… but still, you saved his life. I am grateful."

"Fine. You've said your piece. Now I have to leave." I turned and began to walk away.

"But… I…" From behind me I heard the jingle of coins. "I must give you something, anything as a small token of—"

"Keep it," I said. "You'll need it more than I will."

As I kept walking I could hear Melody apologizing for my behaviour and wishing the woman good fortune, and then her footsteps caught up with mine along the cobblestone road that led to the castle. "You could at least be civil," she said.

"You can think I'm as heartless as you want," I replied, "but remember: I could have let him die."

For once, she didn't say anything.

It didn't take us long to reach the castle. The gate, unexpectedly enough, was already open as we approached. I hesitated for a moment, but then decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and hurried on through, passing another door and then another on my way toward what I hoped would be the throne room.

I felt like I'd missed something.

"There's nobody in here," Melody said, accurately pointing out the obvious as we walked. "Where are all the guards?"

"Either they're dead or they ran for it," I said. "I wouldn't be surprised either way. So much the better for us."

We came to an intersection of hallways. There was nothing of interest either to the left or the right; long hallways that led to tables, either for planning strategy or for eating, I couldn't tell which. A large double door stood in front of us, and I glanced at Melody. "If that leads to the throne room, we might find Cecil in there fighting the Fiend of Water. If I were you, I'd be ready for anything."

She nodded. "I know."

I readied my own spear, paused only for a moment, and then burst through the door.

I thought I'd been ready for anything, but I was clearly wrong, and so was Melody. Her hands flew to her mouth and she let out an audible gasp, the words very loudly escaping her lips before she had a chance to censor herself. "My God! Palom! Porom!"

She was right, of course. The two life-size statues propped up against either wall were, indeed, the twin child prodigies of Mysidia. It was either that or someone had seen fit to carve gargoyles in their likeness, but somehow I didn't think that too likely. Their palms were pressed up against either wall, and their faces were locked – seemingly forevermore – in effort-filled grimaces.

I couldn't begin to imagine what they'd been doing.

Melody had moved from one to the other, back to the first, unable to absorb the shock. "Who could have… what did… why…?"

I sighed, putting my weapon away. If Melody's noisy fussing hadn't brought us any unwanted company, I found it unlikely that anything would. "I think we missed Cecil."

"I don't… why would he just _leave _them here like this? I… I have to do something!" She put her palms together, and for a second the familiar blue-white light filled the room. When she opened her hands, the light was replaced with a yellow one, which surrounded and enveloped Porom's petrified body. But as it faded, and as I'd half-expected, nothing had changed. She was still as grey and lifeless as she had been before.

Melody sagged. "No…"

And then I looked down at the floor and a thought hit me. "Melody," I said, "I think they did this to themselves."

She whirled. "What? What do you mean? Why would they have done something so… so… why would they have done this?"

I pointed to the spot at the bottom of the east wall where it met the floor. The stone of the floor had been fractured, pebbled in some places, and had an unmistakeable rise to it as if it had been pushed inward by… well, something. "I think the walls were closing in," I said out loud, "and I think that Cagnazzo was responsible for it. Perhaps his last act."

Understanding dawned on her face. "And then…"

"And then these two foolishly sacrificed themselves to save Cecil and Master Tellah." I glanced around myself. "I doubt they're still in the throne room, and we didn't pass them on our way in…"

"How can you just stand there like that at a time like this?" Melody said, rounding on me. "We need to do something!"

"Like what?" I snapped. "You've already tried the one thing that might have worked, and I certainly can't begin to cure them. Melt them or freeze them, perhaps – and I have to admit, I wouldn't mind seeing Palom as a block of ice – but nothing else. And I'd stake my life that Master Tellah already tried, so it's no surprise that you couldn't cure them."

"I… but…" Her eyes lit up. "The Elder! He could come up with a way! Or the Priestess! We have to tell them!"

My face darkened. "No. We've wasted enough time here as it is. We need to find Cecil."

"I don't care! I'm going to do what I can!"

Before I could get in another word, she had turned and run full-tilt back out of the antechamber and through the entrance halls. I watched for only a second as she headed back toward the castle gate, wondering if she would be this much trouble every step of the way.

But then again, said a rebellious little voice in my mind, she _did _help you defeat those soldiers.

I shook my head, silencing the voice, and took off after her.

I had almost reached the castle gate myself when a surprisingly strong tremor shook the hall. I flew from my feet, landing hard on the stone nearby, and I rooted myself to it as best as I could, and though I was winded, I wasn't thinking about that. An earthquake? Now? It was too much of a coincidence to be as simple as it seemed.

I looked ahead. Melody was some hundred feet toward the village, but she was no longer running. She was – and I had to look twice to be sure – staring upward toward the sky over the castle.

Which could only mean one thing.

The tremors soon weakened and died, and I bolted back to my feet and hurried out of the castle, quickly catching up to Melody and following her gaze. Sure enough, I had been right: an airship – similar to those of the Red Wings but lacking the proper markings – was rising from a hangar north of the village that had previously been hidden beneath the ground.

"Cecil is on that ship," I said. "I don't plan to let him leave without me."

"But…" She looked like she wanted to protest more about Palom and Porom, but I was sure she knew I could and would leave without her.

But as the ship rose higher, I wasn't so sure. It was very high in the air already, and there was nothing I could see to grab a hold of, even if I could get up high enough to do so – especially with Melody on my back.

"Well?" she said. "What are you going to do?"

I didn't have a chance to answer her – not that I was sure what I was going to say – because another airship soon appeared on the horizon. I pulled out my spear, though I wasn't sure what good that would do. The ship was unmistakeably one of the Red Wings.

But there came no attack, which surprised me until it drew nearer and I could see the white flag flying from its mast. "Surrender?" asked Melody.

I shook my head. "No. That's not Golbez's style. He still has two of his Fiends left; losing Baron won't matter to him. I think he's here to talk… probably to make a threat."

As the ship pulled closer to Cecil's, I could see them readying a plank between the two vessels. I was too far away to see anybody onboard either ship, but what I did notice after a few seconds made a smile creep across my face. From the lower starboard part of the Red Wings' ship, an anchor was hanging from a hole that led into its dark interior.

Melody wasn't looking where I was looking. "What do you think this is about?"

But I didn't care. Instead, I glanced sideways at her. "Are you with me?"

"What? I… well…"

"Yes or no. Now."

"Well, yes, but…"

I looked back up to the ship. "Then climb on my back."

"What?"

"You heard me. Climb on my back."

"Zach, you… what are you going to do?"

I met her eyes this time. "Remember those books about the Dragoons?"

She looked suspicious. "Yes…"

"Remember how I always wanted to be one of them?"

"Of course."

I saw the anchor, waving as the ship hung in the air. There was little time left. "Then," I said, "climb on my back."

She hesitated. "But I—"

"Now!"

She still hesitated. She took one last, long glance toward the antechamber in which stood Palom and Porom, almost lifeless and holding the walls apart. And she looked toward the village, still suffering from the aftermath of Baron's usurpation but glorying in their newfound freedom. And for a long, painful moment, a part of me was genuinely afraid that she would not climb up on my back, that she would hurry back to the village, and that I would never see her again – because I knew that if she didn't come with me now, that would probably be true.

But then she bit her lip, strode to me, and hurried up onto my back, and try as I might, I couldn't mask the smallest sigh of relief.

And then I readied myself, picturing the anchor clearly in my mind, envisioning that I was reaching up to touch it, grasp it – envisioning that I was leaving the ground for the last time as the airship carried me away.

I jumped.

I felt Melody's hands clutch my robes tightly as she realized that I was telling the truth and as we rapidly flew farther and farther from the comparative safety of the cobblestone road below and the grasslands beyond them. I could see the villagers and their expressions of awe and wonder out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored them. I couldn't think about them now. My hair whipped about my head as the wind blasted by me – us – in our ascent to the dull grey anchor dangling from the bowels of the ship. The last link I had to Cecil.

It felt as if I'd just left the ground when I felt the cold metal in the palm of my hand and I clutched it, grasping it tightly, willing Melody to hold just as tightly to me, hoping beyond all hope that she wouldn't lose her faith in me and fall from my back.

I could see the bulk of Cecil's ship hovering mere feet away, and the deck less than fifty meters above me. I was almost ready to leap onboard. Just a minute more…

And then something happened that I hadn't had the sense to anticipate. The ship I was so precariously attached to began to move.

"No!" I said involuntarily.

"Zach!" yelled Melody, out of panic and almost directly into my ear. "Get inside the ship!"

"But I'll lose him!" I yelled back. Already the Red Wings' vessel was pulling away. "This is my only chance!!"

"If you don't get in now, we'll fall and die! Get in!!"

"But…"

"_Go!!_"

I wanted to argue. I wanted to plead. I wanted the ship to miraculously stop moving. But the distance was already too great, and my hold on the chain too weak. I swore out loud, but that didn't help. There was nothing I could do now but head inside, and to safety. And still, I could only obsessively think a single thought:

That was my only chance.

Still cursing, I climbed the chain and tumbled inside the ship, feeling the unsteady jerk as the ship carried me away, away from my goal, perhaps the only hope I had to reach Golbez and avenge my father.

I couldn't know then, of course, just how unexpectedly close the vessel would carry me. I couldn't know then anything that I know now – anything I might have avoided if I'd been able. Remembering it now, I still feel chilled to the bones. The orange of the horizon… the haunting darkness.

The tower in the sky.


	9. Chapter 7

**Zacharias**

_Intention set aside, courage evolving from anger__  
And resolve never clearer, which clouds the wiser course.__  
Betrayal in the turn of the betrayed,  
And a shattering of the heart at the new moon._

* * *

Chapter 7

The voyage toward wherever it was we were going was long and very tense. My first hope had been that we would be able to leap back out the way we had come, but no sooner had I ducked into the hold than the anchor was pulled back in and the little hatch closed behind it.

So we were left with little recourse but to sit quietly in the dark and hope that none of the soldiers found their way down into the depths of the cargo hold – which seemed doubtful anyway, considering the vast piles of useless junk and spare machinery that occupied most of the space.

Melody and I were conveniently stowed at the back of this bay, behind the largest of the crates and other parts inside. Through the small cracks between them I could see light trailing in from elsewhere in the interior cabins, but there were no soldiers and for the moment we were safe.

The problem, of course, was that I didn't want to be stowed safely aboard a Red Wings' ship. I didn't want to be aboard the ship at all.

Only my instinct toward caution kept me from cursing out loud for the duration of the voyage – that and Melody's unwavering presence nearby. She also had the sense to stay quiet, but she spent most of the voyage entranced in prayers and meditations of every sort. This disappointed me somewhat; it left me nobody to complain to.

As the thought crossed my mind I shook my head, trying to push it away. I didn't want to think I was childish enough to take such pleasure out of complaining, but I couldn't help but feel that it would have taken some of the bitterness out of the situation. Still, I would have to become satisfactorily independent sometime. Now was just as good a time as any.

It was a strange thought to have, though. I had thought I had abandoned every pretense of dependence when Kain had died at Damcyan, when I had started my personal training. But it still seemed that I was susceptible to the worst form of dependency: loneliness. Again I silently thanked whatever lucky stars I had that Melody had chosen to come with me… even if the delay had landed me here.

This time I did curse out loud, kicking at a box nearby. Melody looked sharply at me. "Shh! Do you want to get caught back here?"

"I could take them," I replied bitterly, although I wasn't sure how true that was.

Neither was she. "Just stop it, or you'll get us both killed. Once they land we can try and find a way out."

"_If _they land," I corrected. "And even if they do, how will we get ourselves out of here without being noticed?"

"We'll… we'll think of something."

I chuckled derisively despite myself. "It'd be easier to just kill them all now before we have more to deal with."

Melody didn't say anything to that and I sighed. I didn't like being this short-tempered. I saw it as a weakness, and I didn't want to permit myself any weaknesses. It was difficult, though, trying to shut out emotion and become more than… well, more than human.

Meanwhile, the conversation had triggered another thought in my mind. "Where do you think this ship is going?"

"I don't know. Why does that matter?"

"Because we could be flying right to Golbez. Maybe it isn't such a bad thing after all that we missed Cecil's ship."

Melody shook her head. "You're obsessed, Zacharias."

"Maybe I am. And so what if I am?"

"You're going to get yourself killed, and at this rate, me along with you." She sighed. "You know, sometimes there are more important things than revenge."

"Not to me."

"Do you really think that's what your father would want to hear?"

I couldn't think of an answer to that. She unfortunately had a very good point. My father had been one of the biggest advocates in our village for peace, and the use of magic only for self-defense and healing.

"He sacrificed himself to save your life, Zacharias," Melody pressed on. "It doesn't seem grateful to him to go and get yourself killed."

_I heard the dark knight speak to me. "This resistance is futile, young Black Mage. I've sworn to take the Water Crystal from this village for the sake of my kingdom and all the others. Your father has already given his life to save yours. Would you spit on his memory in such a way by nevertheless meeting your end?"_

I shook my head, trying to dislodge the memory, but more of them came to take its place.

_Kain chuckled derisively. "You don't fool me. You're no humanitarian. You want to go with me and fight because you want revenge."_

"_Justice!" I spat bitterly._

"_Perhaps the way you see it. But the truth is that you just want to get back at him – don't give me that look, you know I'm right." _

_The murderous expression on my face did not change as I stared back at him. "So what if I do? He killed my father, he stole the Crystal – he stole my life! So what if I want to make him suffer the same way I did? Is that really so wrong?!"_

"_Someone as well-versed in the Dragoon's code of honour as yourself should know the answer to that question."_

The Dragoon's code of honour. I understood now why Kain had forsaken it. Why bother, when it holds you back in such a way? Still, the irony of that conversation did not escape me: I had been the one to insist that a Dragoon's honour held such high importance, and yet it was Kain who had to remind me of its precepts when he'd abandoned the code so long ago.

And anyway, there was more to be avenged than my father alone, more for which the dark knight Golbez was responsible. Allana… Kain… the people of Damcyan and Mist… and now the soldiers that had fallen at Fabul, I was certain.

"Zach?" Melody's voice pulled me back out of my trance and I looked at her once more. "Are you all right?"

I nodded. "I was just thinking, is all."

And then I heard a voice from the other interior cabins. "All hands on deck! We are on approach! All hands on deck!"

I glanced around, and then got to my feet. I hadn't realized how much time had gone by. I heard running footsteps resonating into the cargo bay, but as I waited they faded into silence and the only footsteps I could hear now came from above us, on the upper deck.

Perfect.

"Come on," I said to Melody. "Let's see where we are."

"What? Zach, have you gone crazy?"

"They're all on the main deck," I said. "That means there aren't any in the interior cabins. Now's our best chance."

I didn't bother to wait for an answer. I scaled one of the smaller boxes and hopped down, heading toward the door that led into the other cabins. I heard Melody clumsily attempting the same thing behind me, and when she finally stumbled down, I led the way through the doorway. I paused, glancing around the corner to make sure we were alone, and then I glanced to my left, toward the bow of the ship.

There were two portholes there, and a breeze was wafting through them that was actually quite refreshing; the cargo bay was somewhat stuffy. But I wasn't really paying attention to the cool wind once I neared the portholes, because what I saw in them nearly took my breath away.

"My God…" said Melody.

It was a tower in the sky. There was no other way to describe it. It looked as if the base sat atop a cushion of clouds, and in the orange light of dusk, though the clouds looked irrevocably beautiful, it was the tower that drew my eye to it, floating there, supported seemingly by nothing but air.

"What kind of dark magic is this…" I wondered aloud.

"I don't like it, Zach. I really don't."

"Neither do I."

As we watched, the tower drew nearer and nearer, grew bigger and bigger. It was massive. It seemed to scrape the very summit of the sky. And this was where we were being taken. I hadn't felt genuinely afraid in quite some time. Now, I was struggling to hold my apprehension at bay. I had thought Castle Baron was intimidating, but the comparison was like holding a candle up to a raging fire.

The airship pulled up to the tower's docking bay on its starboard side. I glanced to my right, into the ship's mess hall. There were more portholes, so I hurried over to them and looked through. Through them, I could see that the boarding ramp had already been lowered; in fact, the ramp was all I could see, as it was positioned directly above the porthole I was looking through. I moved over to another one and saw – I had to look twice – cloaked, hooded figures. Their faces were dark, but their eyes were glowing unpleasantly. Following them, I saw soldiers in very dark armour dismount. From the looks of it, whoever their commanding officer was, he had gone inside already.

I wondered privately if Golbez had been aboard the ship this whole time.

I glanced at Melody, who had only just followed me into the mess hall. "We have to go in," I said.

"What?" She hurried over to my side. "Zach, have you lost the rest of your mind?! If we go in there we'll be killed for sure!"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. This tower doesn't look like a soldier garrison. The ones that just came off this ship probably have quarters somewhere inside, so they won't be patrolling the halls. I think…" I paused. "I think this is where Golbez is hiding."

"So what? Even if you're right and we made it up there…"

"So you're not with me?"

She looked me in the eyes. "What?"

"I'm going up, whether you're coming or not. So are you with me?"

"I…" She kept staring into my eyes. She knew the truth as well as I did: there was no way she would find her way out of this place without my help.

Finally, she sighed. "I'm with you. But… I'm beginning to wish I wasn't."

I ignored the comment and listened for more footsteps from above. They didn't come. "We have to go up now, while they're away from the ship. Follow me, and don't make a sound."

Melody didn't have to be told twice, which was good, because I was not in a patient mood. I stealthily hurried out the door and glanced down the corridor once more. It was still empty, and the stairs leading to the upper deck looked vacant as well. I drew my spear, conscious that I might need it, and began to ascend.

When I reached the top, the door to the outer deck was closed. There was one small window, which I peered into and through which I didn't see any guards. Melody was breathing heavily behind me, clearly more nervous than I was. The more I thought about what we were about to do, though, the more apprehensive I became. I tried to shut the thoughts out and concentrate on what I was doing, but a respite from my well-concealed fear wasn't quite so easy.

I slowly eased the door open. Darkness was falling quickly, so I kept to the shadow as much as possible and glanced out, peering left and right. I quickly ducked back; the solitary door that led into the tower was guarded on the left and right by two guards in the same dark armour. They looked as if they'd be more difficult to deal with than any of the Baronian guards had been – Elite or otherwise.

My heart was pounding in my chest and I mentally willed it to stop, lest it be overheard. I felt as if it were booming louder than thunder. The hand that clutched my spear was sweaty, as was my forehead, dampening my bangs, which subsequently draped irritatingly across my face. I pushed them away and pulled up my hood, watching as the sun kept dipping lower and lower.

"Well?" Melody whispered into my ear. "What now?"

"We wait," I whispered back. "When it's dark, we move."

It couldn't have taken longer than half an hour for the last of the light to disappear, but in our position it felt like days had passed before the stars were finally the only light to be seen. I privately thanked whichever stars were my lucky ones that the moon was barely a sliver.

Melody then poked my side and pointed to the boarding ramp. One soldier was on patrol and walking up the boarding ramp, preparing, I supposed, to do rounds aboard the ship. I cursed to myself and backed away from the door, motioning for Melody to get downstairs. She did, and I followed her, stealthily moving down the hall back toward the cargo bay.

I glanced at her over my shoulder. "You remember those sentences of silence the Priestess always put on me?" She nodded. "Do you think you can give this guard a dose?"

She narrowed her eyes for a moment, and then saw what I meant and nodded again. I shifted back to allow her more room, and she put her palms together in the usual fashion to conjure up her White Magic. I watched the corridor, conscious that the guard would come before too much longer.

Sure enough, minutes later his heavy bootsteps resonated along the hall. He was carrying a torch, and the light cast ominous, flickering shadows against the wall. The light drew nearer slowly. My hand gripped my spear in earnest.

Closer…

I wiped some of the sweat off of my forehead and prepared to make my move.

The guard was mere paces from the doorway.

And then Melody parted her hands, and a dazzling blue light surrounded her, which quickly changed to yellow light and dove down the guard's undefended throat.

The guard made one or two gagging sounds, and then nothing escaped his throat but for the sounds of his teeth and tongue as he attempted to cry for help and slowly realized that no shadow of a voice would emerge.

I whipped around the corner, my spear ablaze. The guard was ready; he had already abandoned the torch and drawn his sword. I parried his first and second attacks and dove in with my own, aiming for the undefended spot beneath his helmet, at his neck.

Our weapons clashed again as he defended himself, and I began to worry that the sounds of the fight might reach the ears of the guards at the tower's door. I began to dodge more than parry, and as I did so I focused on conjuring my second-tier Lightning spell. The guard was quick but I was quicker, ducking this way and that as he lunged and slashed with his sword.

As this dance continued I realized that he might well be too fast. Without a second or two to compose myself, I wouldn't be able to cast the spell I had prepared. I ducked and weaved around him, and then my hand found the torch he had discarded.

Without a second thought I hurled the burning stick at his face, and he had barely enough time to deflect it and back away before I was at the ready, hands outstretched, a knowing smile on my face.

The lightning hurled him from his feet and send him spiralling to the floor, the charged metal leaving him limp and lifeless. Melody had to jump out of the way as the guard slid toward her, his hand clutching his sword.

She then crouched beside him, checking for any signs of life. When she looked up at me and shook her head, I couldn't mask a brief sigh of relief; it didn't seem as if the guards up above had overheard us.

"So far, so good," I said out loud.

"I don't know," said Melody. "The two guards at the front saw him come down here. If he doesn't show up, they'll get suspicious."

"Getting past them isn't going to be easy no matter how we do it," I said shortly, turning to head back to the stairs. As I reached the top I opened the door again, carefully, trying not to attract attention. There they were, still standing stock still… almost like statues.

Melody was right behind me. "This is crazy, Zach. Just… just crazy."

"You've mentioned that," I said, "and I don't care. I'm getting in there one way or another."

"But how?"

I took another long, hard look at the tower's door before I finally answered her. "I don't know yet… but I'll think of something."

But even as I said it, I privately hoped I was telling the truth.

* * *

_I stand in the highest room in the tower... our tower. The Tower of Zott, so named by Golbez himself. _

_I don't like to think about it. I don't like this. I have never liked this. But I have realized now that I cannot escape this reality. This tower is our tower. It is no longer his alone. It is ours. He is my master, and I am his unwilling apprentice. _

_I have only just returned, but I wish that I could leave once more. And yet, I do not… because I worry that the next time I leave, I will see him again. Cecil. The look of betrayal on his face when he looked at me is something that will haunt me to my dying day. And to think that I almost killed him with my very hands… I still feel as if only the strongest of my resistance stopped me from doing so. But I have not since been able to exert that much control over myself. I believe that my self-proclaimed master has made certain of that. _

_I watch him. He stands at the top of the small set of stairs that divides the southern and northern halves of this… this evil throne room of his. On the wall above the southern door, by some form of evil magic, an image floats in the air. I do not pay attention to it. I do not need to. Whatever it is controlling my body, my actions, my words… he will know what is in that image. I do not want to. _

_I glance to my left. Rosa sits there, asleep for the first time in days, beneath a blade so precariously balanced that it could fall any second – which is just how the master wants it, I know. He wants her to sit there in fear, fear that she will never leave this room alive. Because, as he knows, he has no intention of ever letting her do so. _

_I wish the horror controlling my body would let me look away from her, but he delights in the waves of sorrow I feel whenever I look at her, bound in such a way. He reaches into the deepest of my emotions, and plays my heartstrings like some twisted orchestra of hatred and evil. _

"_Kain," says my master to me, and I am relieved to finally look at him instead of at the woman I will forever love. _

"_Yes, my master?" The words sicken me, but I say them again as I have so very many times. _

"_Look at this. I believe you may find it interesting."_

_My face looks upon the image, and for once I pay attention to what I am seeing. I immediately wish I hadn't. My heart would sink if it were under my own control._

"_That is Zacharias, master. The boy who irritated you so at Damcyan."_

"_And he has a young White Mage girl with him," Golbez tells me, chuckling. "He certainly looks different from the last time I laid eyes on him, wouldn't you say? Somewhat… darker."_

"_Shall I have him killed, Master?" I wish it were within my power to say anything but those words. I want to go to the window, or out of the tower, and tell him to run, run far away._

"_No," says Golbez, and my insides tremble with relief. "No, in fact I think it would be more appropriate to allow him to climb up here and witness your, erm… change of heart for himself. Don't you?"_

_No. No, I do not. No, he is only a boy, a boy who does not deserve to have his dreams crushed so, a boy whose life was stolen from him once already by your evil, sick, twisted gauntlet._

"_Yes, my master."_

* * *

"I have an idea," I said to Melody. "Maybe if I can disguise myself as one of the guards – I can take the armour of the one we just killed, and maybe…"

"Wait! Zach, look!"

I looked, and then looked again as I saw the two guards on either side of the door turn around and go inside, disappearing from sight.

"What are they doing?" she whispered.

"I don't know." I watched for several minutes, seeing if they would return, or if they were merely changing the guard. But nobody else emerged to take their place. It looked as if I had just been handed an opportunity.

Looking back, I suppose I should have been more suspicious.

Melody more than made up for my lack of caution, however. "I don't like it, Zach. It seems too easy."

"I don't care. I've just been given a gift and I'm not about to waste it."

"But Zach…!"

Before she could do any more complaining I was out the door, running quietly but quickly toward the tower door. I heard Melody behind me, but didn't turn to look; I knew that if I were going to be seen, it would be while crossing the upper deck of the ship.

If I hadn't been seen already. But I didn't want to think about that.

It didn't take me long to reach the door, and I pressed myself up against it while Melody caught up to me, panting heavily. I kept myself pressed as flat against the wall as I could, and looked upward. I had seen them before, but I hadn't put as much thought into them as I had into coming up with a way to distract the two guards. And now, the path to the top seemed so simple.

Melody tapped me on the shoulder. "Well? Are we going in?"

"I have a faster way."

"What?"

I pointed up. "Balconies. We can get straight to the top of the tower without even going inside."

I expected to hear more protests or complaints, but to my surprise Melody sighed with relief. "Good thinking."

"Stow the praise and climb on my back."

Even as she did so I closed my eyes, going through the familiar motions in my mind as I prepared for the jump. As I felt myself leap into the air, I opened my eyes and saw the starlight streaking by. I felt my boots come to a rest atop the first balcony, and I felt myself already jumping again, climbing higher and higher into the air after the next one.

And as I climbed higher along the most oppressive, dark building I had ever laid eyes on, I felt my heart soar in an inescapable feeling of absolute bliss, drinking in the freedom of streaking through the night air. I looked out on the clouds as I flew, enraptured by the glinting starlight and the dim moonlight across them. It was a sea of clouds, caught in the middle of the night in a beautiful portrait of all that was good in the world, even so close to such a horrible evil.

I will never forget that feeling. How effortless it seemed to move from place to place, from stone landing to stone landing, unsure how many were left, unwilling to care. I remembered my mentor, and silently thanked him for delivering this gift to me, the freedom I had so longed for, that I hadn't even realized I was missing.

All too soon it was over, and we were standing atop the highest balcony, only a single storey from the very top of the evil tower. I looked out upon the cloudscape in awe, and looked at Melody as she climbed down from my back. Her hood fell back and her hair spilled from it, a gleaming red-orange only just discernible in the moonlight, and for a moment I wasn't even thinking about where I was, I could only think about her, about her hair in the moonlight, and about the time we had spent in Mysidia that I could never have back.

And then she spoke, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Well, let's go."

I nodded wordlessly, and turned to the glass door, opening it carefully and stepping inside.

The tower was much less dark and imposing than I had originally thought it would be on the inside. The floor pulsated with an eerie light coming from who-knew-were. The outside walls were nothing but large windows that looked out upon the sea of clouds in the moonlight. The staircase that apparently led from the lower floors was ensconced in glass – everything about the place looked to be a strange combination of beautifully majestic and eccentrically evil.

"Creepy," said Melody, and for once, I had to agree with her.

To our left, a short staircase led up to the higher half of the room, just in front of the one that led to the lower floors. I walked to it, carefully glancing this way and that, half expecting to walk into an ambush.

But none came.

"It's... quiet," said Melody.

I nodded. I wasn't entirely too comfortable myself. We were almost at the top of the tower. I had assumed at the very least that there would be a pair of soldiers at one of the doors. But as I rose to the top of the small staircase, not even the door to the final level was guarded.

"This is odd," I said. "I don't believe Golbez would just leave his tower this poorly defended."

"I'll tell you what it is," she replied. "It's a trap. Golbez baited us, and we took it."

"But..." I stopped a moment to consider this. "That makes no sense. Golbez might have known we were here, but why wouldn't he have just sent his men into the ship? And even if he _did _lay a trap for us, he couldn't possibly have known that I'd come up the way we did. He can't know about my--"

"He didn't know."

It was as if someone had struck me over the head with something incredibly large and blunt, so obvious were the shock and disbelief that crossed my face as I heard the inexplicably familiar voice – not inexplicable because I had to wonder to whom it belonged, because I knew the instant I heard it. Rather, my brain simply tried to deny what my ears had heard and longed so terribly to believe.

I had spun around in less than a second, and then my brain could not deny it, not after two of my senses had agreed upon the identity of the man in the room with us.

"Kain!" I raced down the stairs to where he had stepped out from behind a support post. "Kain, you're alive! And you... how did you get here? And what are you doing here?"

His reply was a dark grin, one uncharacteristic of him that forced me to take a step back. "That isn't important. I must say I was surprised to see you had survived."

"I... but I thought you'd..." I shook my head. "If you've been alive all this time, then where have you--"

"Zacharias!" The hiss had come from Melody, only a few steps behind me. "Get away from him!"

"I-- what?"

"Get away from him!! There's darkness just _flowing _out of him, Zach! That man is not the Kain you know!"

I spun around. "What are you talking about?!"

I didn't even hear her answer. I felt a sharp pain in my back, and then I was sailing through the air, the force of Kain's kick catapulting me up the stairs, where I roughly landed and rolled to a rest, the wind knocked out of me and my eyes clenched with pain.

Melody screamed and raced up the stairs to my side. "Zach! Zach!!"

My palms found the cold floor and I began to push myself up, trying to breathe properly. I was as confused as I had ever been. The pain in my body was nearly matched by the pain in my heart, and all the while the part of my mind that clung blindly to false hope was trying to convince me that there was something else to this, that there was a rational explanation for Kain's actions, that he was anything - anything at all - but evil. And then the other part of my mind forced me to face the undeniable truth: Kain was under Golbez's control, and no amount of pithy pleading would change that.

By the time I struggled to a stand, the flash of the boy Zacharias that had resurfaced when I heard Kain's voice was buried once again beneath my cold stare. I panted heavily and the pain in my back etched lines across my vision, but I didn't falter. "So... I see how this is."

Kain laughed as he climbed the stairs. "Such a naïve young boy. I must say, I was impressed when I heard about your handiwork in Baron... I'd never have guessed that someone so buried in the so-called Dragoon code of honour would kill so freely - so easily."

"Really?" I finally caught my breath, and my voice stopped trembling. "After what your master has done, I don't see how any of that could surprise you."

"Ah, yes, I'd almost forgotten how obsessed you've been with getting revenge. Is that why you've come here, then?"

I shook my head. "You should know the answer to that."

"What, that you've come by accident?"

"Call it a lucky coincidence."

Kain had begun to pace slowly toward me, and I backed away, crossing toward the wall of windows that looked out upon the moonlight. I kept one hand tentatively within reach of my spear, though I couldn't ignore the little voice in the back of my mind reminding me that it had once been his.

For his part, Kain chuckled again. "It was certainly lucky, I'll give you that. You've come a long way since we parted if you can hide yourself so well under my nose."

My eyes narrowed. "So that was your ship. What do you want with Cecil?"

"The same as you, I imagine - simply a means to an end. Unless, of course, you still want him dead, in which case I can't say I disagree either."

"Want him dead? What do you mean?"

"Zach, don't listen to him!" Melody had returned to my side and was staring darkly at Kain. "He's just trying to manipulate you."

"Oh-ho!" I tried to decipher the triumph in Kain's voice, but it was to little avail. "It seems your little White Mage friend knows something you don't."

"Shut up!" I pulled out my spear, holding it at the ready, and glared at my former mentor. "If you're going to kill me, dispense with the pleasantries and do it already, if you can."

"As you wish."

He moved faster than I had imagined was possible. I moved to defend myself with barely a millisecond to spare, but already he was moving again, striking at me with the butt of his spear. It caught me in the gut and I stumbled back, winded. Trying to clear my vision, I could vaguely make out the blur that was his spear sailing through the air towards me. I ducked down, nearly losing my balance, but struck out with my foot and caught him in the leg. He stumbled slightly and didn't fall, but it was enough for me to get to my feet and begin to strike back.

The clang echoed in the cavernous room as our weapons clashed, sending vibrations through my fingers and straight to my skull. I struck again, aiming a blow at his head which he parried easily, and again, this one aimed at his thigh, and again, and again, and soon my limbs were moving of their own accord as the instinct I had spent those long weeks trying to perfect came to the forefront and I simply stepped out of myself to watch. Here I was, fighting Kain, the man whom I had known - and mourned - as my mentor, trying to suppress all the anger and betrayal I felt, worried it would sway my focus, that I would find myself outweighed by his swiftness and his skill.

But the cloud of rage would not die away. As I fought, my blood boiled and I trembled. My attacks became less and less calculated and precise, slowly becoming more and more aimless, random, and inaccurate. It was everything I had told myself time and again never to do. But I had been prepared for anything - anything at all - but this.

Another of Kain's well-placed kicks and I was sent flying backwards, landing roughly on the floor. I was winded again, and I tried to stand, but found that I couldn't, leaning heavily on my spear as I tried to support my own weight.

My former mentor laughed again, lowering his spear. "Still the same old boy you were back in Mist, aren't you? Always letting your fits of rage get in the way of what really matters."

"Shut up!" I said, still panting heavily. "Do you still want to fight? Come on!"

"Zach, no!" Melody was at my side again, trying to help me stand. "He's too strong for you!"

I shoved her off. "No! If he wants a fight he'll get one!"

Kain sighed, shaking his head. "Still he thinks with his fists. Well, so be it, I suppose."

And then another voice chimed in, making Melody and I jump. "Oh, darling, don't wear yourself down... let me play with this rascal of yours."

"Oh, no..." I said quietly.

The voice laughed, sending chills through my spine. Beside me, Melody clutched my arm. A breeze soon began to toss my hair about my head, growing cooler until I felt goose bumps rising under my sleeve. I knew who was coming to join us, but I refused to give her the satisfaction of a shiver.

"W-what is it?" Melody chattered out beside me.

My frown deepened. "Barbariccia," I said.

The air grew colder, and then suddenly began to form into a swirl of fog. The fog grew narrower and narrower, and finally parted to reveal a woman of surpassing beauty. Her long, yellow hair flowed well past her knees, swaying about in the unnatural breeze that emanated from her porcelain skin. Her yellow eyes flashed hungrily as her bangs floated away from her face and her plump, red lips. She was wearing scarcely enough clothing to cover a newborn infant. She laid a hand seductively on Kain's shoulder, and toward us, flashed a frightening grin.

"So this is your protegé?" she said, looking me over. I tried my best to stand defiantly, but in my state I think all I was able to manage resembled a starving zombie. "Not quite what I expected, I must admit."

"Barbariccia, I presume?" I said to her, still panting. "I was expecting more myself, after what I heard about Scarmiglione and Cagnazzo – or have you always been the whore of the group?"

Melody's horrified expression didn't tame my satisfaction at the dark look that crossed Barbariccia's. "Perhaps this pupil of yours would look better as a block of granite," she said menacingly, taking a step forward.

"Now now," said yet another voice, and this time my blood ran cold with fury. "Surely such civilized people can solve their problems without all this violence…"

It was as if a dark shadow had fallen on the room. What little moonlight was left seemed extinguished, the clouds becoming dark and ominous, as Golbez strode into the room from the crystalline staircase that led from the top of the evil tower. Barbariccia humbly slinked back to Kain's side, laying her right arm over his shoulders and delicately brushing the fingers of her left hand over his breastplate. Kain himself watched his new master smugly, his own fingertips weaving their way through her obscenely long hair. The scene made me sick to my stomach.

"Well, now that we've all settled down," Golbez said through the impenetrable darkness of his helmet, his cape sweeping the floor around him. "What do you think of my tower, boy? A masterpiece, don't you think?"

I couldn't answer. My eyes twitched with rage. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Kain suppressing a chuckle.

After a moment, Golbez made a small motion which I took to be the equivalent of a shrug. "Oh, well… there is just no pleasing some people, I suppose."

"Shut up!!" I finally managed to say. In retrospect, I should have just left it there; instead, I blundered on stupidly, "I'm here to put a stop to you! You've got too much innocent blood on your hands!"

"Have I?" Golbez chuckled. "And what would you know of the blood on my hands?"

"I know enough! I saw what you and your people did to Damcyan! I saw you burn the village of Mist, and I watched you kill my father!!"

There was a sudden silence when I finished. It was heavy with something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Everyone in the room was staring at me, including Melody, with a look of perplexity.

And then, as I looked on in shock, Kain began to laugh.

It was a long, pealing laugh, one that made me shiver without quite knowing why. Next to him, Barbariccia was smiling broadly. I was ever-conscious of the eyes on me, and when I turned around to look at the tears forming in Melody's eyes, I began to consider for the first time that Kain might not have been lying… that maybe she – and everyone else – _did _know something I didn't.

My voice was surprisingly calm and level when I spoke. "What?"

Melody's lower lip trembled and she closed her eyes, heaving a very shaky sigh. "Zach… Golbez wasn't… he…"

She was interrupted by Kain, who had finally finished laughing. "This-this is hard to believe… how can it be that I didn't see it sooner…?"

"That will do, Kain," said Golbez, much in the same manner a parent might indulgingly chide his son. "It is a true tragedy we see here before us… all this time, the poor boy has been chasing the wrong man."

"Wrong man?" I spun to face him, holding my spear menacingly. "What do you mean, 'wrong man'?!"

"I'm afraid…" He paused, bent his head, and then chuckled quietly before continuing. "I'm afraid that I had nothing to do with the murder of your father. In fact, I have never set foot in Mysidia."

The feeling of one's heart sinking to the bottom of one's stomach is quite unlike any other experience – with the exception, perhaps, of traveling by the Devil Road. To learn such a truth is a feeling of morbid humiliation accompanied by absolute horror and confusion. And in the face of this inevitable sensation, my reaction was no different than anyone would have expected.

I gulped for air as I tried to make sense of what I had heard. "You're… you're lying!"

It was Golbez's turn to laugh, a much darker, more foreboding laugh than Kain's had been. "Denial is such an unfortunate thing. I suppose we should tell him who _was_ responsible… don't you think, Kain?"

I looked, distraught, to Kain, and for less than a second, I was sure I saw something twitch in his expression, the evil grin momentarily gone and replaced by a look of revulsion and fury. But soon the grin was back, and Kain was looking at me with a perverse joy spread across his face. "Yes, Master," he said.

"Kain…" I tried to say, but my voice was so unsteady it emerged as little more than a whisper.

"In fact," said Golbez, "perhaps the best person to ask would be the very man you've been searching for."

With a look in my eyes that could kill, I said with a trembling voice, "what do you mean?"

"He means," Kain interjected, "that the man who killed your father was none other than Cecil himself, and you've been too stubbornly obsessive to realize it."

The colour left my face. I could feel something shattering inside of me. I could only shake my head in disbelief. "No... it's not true! It can't be true!"

Frantically, I turned to Melody, but in her I found no reassurance; tears welled in her eyes, and through gasping sobs she said, "I tried to tell you... I thought you knew, I thought you wanted revenge back in Mysidia, I..."

She could say no more. My head was spinning. "I didn't... I wanted to..." I said aloud, to nobody in particular. "I stopped the soldiers... I _protected_ him...!"

"Aw, the wittle bwack mage has wost his hewo," said Barbariccia in a grotesque, babyish voice. "What's wrong, boy? Can't take knowing that your so-called 'Holy Knight' is a lie?"

I heard her laugh, but distantly, as though I wasn't even in the room. The blood had returned to my face, which now burned a fiery crimson with humiliation and anger. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I wanted them to be lying, even Melody, but there was no denying the truth... and the weight pressed on my heart.

My knees buckled and I fell to the floor, my palms slamming against the floor. I balled them into fists and brought them down again, so hard that I felt my hands beginning to bleed. I felt Melody's hand on my shoulder and heard her sobbing, but I shoved her away. She was a traitor. She didn't tell me. She knew all along but she didn't tell me...

"Poor, pitiful child," Golbez said as he strode toward me, his bootsteps echoing off the walls. "Now you learn that there is no... how did you put it? Ah yes, 'innocent blood.' Truly, there are no innocents. There is nothing but power and those who use it. The 'innocents' you speak of have not yet discovered power... and as you have now learned, men like Cecil need only understand what their power can be used for, and it will then sweep them away with the rest."

I gritted my teeth, my eyes clenched, face toward the floor. "And... and you? You're a _moster_! How are you any better than he is?!"

"In fact, I don't cling to the foolhardy belief that I am any different, and neither should you. I have seen, boy, how much pleasure you extract from the kill... it feels good, does it not, to know that you have power over those whom you have laid to eternal rest?"

"Shut up! I am not like you!!"

"Oh, but you are, more than you can imagine, except that unlike those like you, who have power but who waste it on one another, I use mine for a greater purpose..."

"Greater... rgh... purpose...?"

He turned from me, his cloak sweeping around him as he did so. "Yes... what you feel right now is utterly insignificant, for when I gather all of the Crystals and the Way to the Moon is open, everything will be as it should be."

He began to walk back toward the staircase he had descended, and then stopped. "Oh, Kain... you may kill him now."

I looked up sharply, feeling for my spear, and realizing it had fallen from my hand and rolled away. I looked at Kain, and saw him grin with glee as he raised his own and began to walk toward me. "I will enjoy this," he muttered as he drew nearer.

And then I looked into his eyes with all the hatred and fury I could muster, and I saw him falter. Something happened in his eyes, as if something inside him were fighting for control. The spear, poised high above his head and ready to pierce the last of my life from me, halted in midair, and he looked as if he were struggling to bring it to its destination.

"Kain..." I whispered.

* * *

"_Kain," he whispers, and still I struggle. I fight for control, I fight the beast that has haunted me for so long. The spear trembles. I am fighting as hard as I can, but I am losing. The beast will win - my master will win. I stand there, the spear poised above me, willing Zacharias to get out of its way before I can finish the job._

_A tear struggles its way from my eye. He sees it... he recognizes it. I am sure now. He recognizes me, he knows that I cannot control what I am about to do. He knows what I have become... and I am flooded with a mixed sense of relief and horror, and above all, I want him to collect his spear, to defend himself as I would have taught him to do had I been given the chance._

"_Kill him!" I hear Barbariccia say, and my heart is filled with loathing at the thought of the distasteful acts my body has committed with hers. The spear wavers. I know that if I do not kill him, she will, and far more efficiently than I. I battle with myself again, wondering if I would be showing mercy to just kill him now, rather than let her have her way, which would undoubtedly make both Zacharias and his White Mage friend suffer greatly._

_But before I can make that choice, moving faster than I had thought she was capable, the White Mage leaps over to Zacharias, her hand on his, and there is a brilliant flash of white light. I see the last of his revulsion, rage and pity, feel it wash over me, before they both disappear and the light begins to fade. _

_The point of my spear reaches the floor. The sound of metal on stone resonates through the chamber._

_Zacharias is gone. _

_I hear Barbariccia's shriek of rage, and I hear her raving at me for my cowardice, but I do not care. He will live. I remain content with wondering whether, perhaps, there will be a day when I am no longer Golbez's captive... a day when I can see him face to face as myself, and tell him how very proud I am. _

_My body turns and starts toward the stairs, ascending to await the Master's punishment._


	10. Chapter 8

**Zacharias**

_The truth is a bow armed with the sharpest of arrows.  
There are times when the arrow will fly true, and lead you to light.  
There are times when the arrow will hurtle irretrievably into the darkness.  
And there are times when the arrow will pierce the depths of your heart._

* * *

Chapter 8

There was something about the sensation that was distinctly familiar. The flash of brilliant white, obscuring everything in my vision from the shock and anger on Kain's conflicted face to Barbariccia's bared teeth as she cried out in rage. And then the sudden jerk, as if something was pulling me up and up by the shoulders, until I was no longer where I had been.

I was too preoccupied to think about such things, however. Though my body had left that horrible chamber in the tower, my mind was still there, and so was Kain, and so was Golbez… only now Cecil was there too, and he wasn't the hero I had envisioned him to be, even when I'd thought of him as merely the means to my own end. Now he was darker than the darkest of Golbez's robes, dressed in the black armour he'd worn when he murdered my father.

It was some time before I opened my eyes.

When I did, I found that I was lying face-down on a grassy field near a small forest. The sun was dipping into the horizon; how much time had gone by? I couldn't be sure. I couldn't even guess, except to say – with a slight shudder – that I had clearly been unconscious for a full day. It might as well have been only minutes since it all happened. I couldn't shake Kain's face out of my mind… the man I had once considered my hero, the man whom I had thought was dead for weeks. How could it be that he was evil? How could he have let himself fall under Golbez's control?

Weak. He was weak. He must have been. That was the only answer: he was too weak to resist Golbez, and now he was suffering the consequences. I was not weak. I would stand up to him. I would become more powerful than Golbez, more powerful than Cecil, and I would not follow the same horrid path as my ex-mentor. I would surpass him, find Golbez, and find Cecil… and I would kill them both. Kill them both for what they had done to me.

I pushed myself off the ground, my limbs stiff and sore from the awkward way I'd been lying on them. I looked around. Melody was lying close by, but I turned away from her. She'd known. She'd known the whole time that it was Cecil who killed my father, and she'd never told me… how could she? The traitor! She betrayed me! She kept the truth from me, even as I was staring into the face of the man I had thought was the murderer for so long!

Tears came to my eyes again, but I shoved them away by the sheer force of my will. I would not allow myself that weakness now.

I turned around. There was a village not too far away. It looked very small, insignificant almost – nowhere near the size of Baron. I might not have noticed it at all had I looked to its right, because it was dwarfed by an enormous mountain range that reached toward the blue, cloudless sky, and as I followed it, I saw that it covered the ground at least as far as I could see in either direction. When I looked opposite, I saw the coastline, and the little village was close to the coast as well.

I stood. I thought momentarily about ascending the mountains, but decided against it; I was weary, and if Golbez or Kain were still anywhere nearby, it would serve me better to keep out of sight until I recuperated.

The thought of Golbez and Kain – which sounded sickeningly like some sort of team – brought the rage boiling back to the surface, and thus it seemed a very inopportune time for Melody to wake up.

"Ohhh…" she groaned, shifting on the grass and turning her head away from the sun. I looked down upon her in disgust for a moment before turning away again to look at the village.

I heard her sit up, and glance around herself, and then she had clearly seen that I was up, because she said, "Zacharias?"

I didn't answer her. I stood with my arms crossed, watching the village. Most of the little windows were now flooded from within with light, smoke floating from the chimneys as the day drew to a close and night set in.

I then sensed Melody's presence beside me. I didn't look at her. "Zach…" she said, but once again I didn't answer.

She was quiet for a moment. She watched the village with me. And then she spoke again. "Zach, I… I'm sorry I didn't tell you… I thought you knew—"

"You kept it from me," I said coldly, "and you're a liar."

She looked hurt. Good, I thought. That was what I wanted. "Zach, how could I have known—"

"Don't try to lie to me again. You knew I was hunting Golbez… and you knew why. And you deliberately didn't tell me."

She sighed shakily. I could tell I had won the argument, but that gave me little satisfaction. "I… well, maybe I just wanted to protect you."

"Protect me?" Anger flashed through my eyes, but still I didn't look at her. "Protect me from what?"

"From yourself!" she said angrily, her hands balling into fists. "Maybe I knew what you'd do! Ever think of that? And maybe I was protecting everyone else – all the innocents, everyone's lives that Cecil's gone out to _save_ from you and your obsession with—"

"How dare you!" I turned to look at her, finally. "How dare you preach to me! He killed my father! He took my _life_ away from me, and you're calling it nothing but an obsession?!"

"He killed a lot of people that day, including your father, and we all loved him! And yet we still found it within ourselves to forgive him, because we know that he'll be the one to bring us back out of this war!!"

"He doesn't deserve to try!" I turned toward the ocean. I could barely see it now; the sun was all but gone. "He lost his chance! And I… I'm going to make him see justice, and then _I'll _end this war by killing Golbez myself!!"

"I think we just proved that you _can't_, Zacharias! You nearly got us both killed in that tower, and if I hadn't Teleported us out—"

"Who said that was any of your business?!" I turned back to her. "I could have done it without you! I would have killed the whole lot of them if you hadn't interfered! I didn't _need _your help!"

She started to say something else, but no words escaped. She put her hands to her temples, turning toward the forest. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. I've been trying to talk myself into this ever since I came with you, hoping there was some shred of your old self left in there… what was I thinking…?"

Despite myself, I laughed. "My old self? Hah! My old self was a pathetic little weakling."

"A weakling?" She looked at me over her shoulder, shaking her head. "A weakling? Zach, look at everything you _did_! You must have been one of the most gifted young wizards in Mysidia! You learned the second-tier Black Magic by yourself, you even taught yourself how to use Float, and that's very advanced White Mag—"

"Oh, just shut up!" I said angrily. "If I was such a gifted wizard, why did they all hold me back? Why didn't they let me reach my full potential?"

"Because you couldn't control your temper!" She buried her face in her hands for a moment, and then looked up again, seeming more weary than she had before. "I kept trying to tell you not to be such a loose cannon, but you never listened!"

"They wouldn't have cared," I said. "The patron, the elder… none of them would have cared."

She shook her head. "You're wrong, Zach. They realized that the day the Water Crystal was taken. You took on all those guards with your father, you saved the Priestess's life! Your name is going to go down in Mysidian history! You're calling that person… that _hero_... you're calling him a weakling?"

"A weakling compared to what I am now." I turned back to the ocean, watching the sliver of a moon in the sky. "Now I'm more powerful than I ever could have been in Mysidia. I have the Dragon's Magic now."

"The Dragon's Magic?" She shook her head again. "Zach, you're not making any sense…"

I crossed my arms. "I don't have to. It's a new brand of magic… _my _brand of magic. And it doesn't cling to the pathetic notions of honour that the Elder or the Dragoons teach. Golbez was right. All there is… is power."

"Zach…"

"No!" I spun back around, looking her in the eye. "It's all about power! Look at what happened to Damcyan, to Fabul – to Mysidia! The men with power are the ones that make those without power suffer! And when I have power… when I have _all _the power, there won't be any need for suffering."

For once, Melody wasn't trembling or teary-eyed. She just stared me in the eye, her jaw hardened. "Zach… you sound just like Golbez."

"So what? There's nothing else to live for! It's all I have!"

"That's not true!! There's all the people in Mysidia, Fabul, Damcyan, even Baron! _Good people_! And there's…" She sighed. "And there's me."

It was the last thing I had expected her to say, and as such I was rendered completely speechless. I struggled to find something to say, but I couldn't come up with a single word.

She pursed her lips and sat back down on the grass. "Zach… why do you think I wanted to come with you so badly?"

To this question, my answer was automatic and cold. "You wanted to meddle. You wanted to stop me from doing what I should have done the day the Water Crystal was stolen, you couldn't keep your nose out of my business…"

But she was shaking her head. "No, Zach. I missed you." When I said nothing, she sighed. "You and I grew up together. You were… you were really the only friend I ever had. When they told us you'd died, I… I almost did, too. When they told us you'd died, I stayed in my room and I cried for a week, Zacharias. And then when the Priestess offered to let me assist her with Porom, I said yes, because I thought maybe I could distract myself. So I… I did nothing else but work for her, and then when you came back…"

She trailed off. I was struck dumb once again. I hadn't even realized what kind of impact my disappearance would have had on Melody. I'd been so absorbed in my grief and anger over my father's murder, I hadn't stopped to consider…

I turned back toward the water. I could only hear it now; the light from the very thin crescent moon was barely enough to send sparkles across the surface. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to stay on this train of thought. It would take me back to my old self, I knew it, and now more than ever I had to stay detached… focused. And yet here was Melody, pouring her heart out to me, and how I had privately longed to let my mask slip away and just be with her again ever since I had seen her again for the first time…

But I didn't say anything. I wouldn't. I refused to.

I turned back to her, walking over and sitting back down on the grass. I was suddenly very tired. I had been unconscious for almost a full day, yet I felt as if I hadn't slept at all.

My voice was hoarse as I spoke. "We should rest. We'll go to the village in the morning."

It was clearly not what she had wanted to hear, but just the same, she nodded and lay down, turning on her side with her back to me and curling up against the chilly night air.

I sat there for a moment, looking at her. How could she be so selfless? How could her soul remain so pure, even after the horrors she had lived through in Mysidia? How could she still be so good, so… so perfect?

What had happened to me that day?

Slowly I laid on the grass, feeling the cool blades against my exposed neck and hands, and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

It wasn't the sun that woke me the next morning. It wasn't the birds, either. It wasn't even Melody.

When I opened my eyes, wondering what could be causing such a commotion as to blow the wind so forcefully by my face and make such an unfortunately loud noise, they widened as I watched an airship descend from the sky.

I was on my feet in an instant and shaking Melody awake. She mumbled sleepily. "Come on!" I said, forgetting how angry I'd been with her. "Come on, we have to take cover!"

She opened her eyes, finally, and then looked in the direction of the commotion. Then she was up and running faster than I could repeat myself, headed for the border of the little forest. We chose two large trees to hide behind as we watched from their cover to see what this airship was and why it was here.

As it landed, I could make out the writing on the side. In bold silver lettering, the name on the belly of the ship read "_Enterprise_." It looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite decide why.

"I recognize that ship," I said to Melody.

She nodded. "I do, too. It's not one of the Red Wings, though."

I watched as the propellers finally stopped spinning and the ship settled comfortably onto the grass. The noise and the wind died away, and for a few moments nothing happened. Then a plank was lowered from the deck up at the top of the ship, and two men strode down it. One was bare-chested and nearly bald, with a long, black string of hair that trailed down the back of his neck. The other I could barely see for all the hair obscuring his jaw and the helmet and goggles on his eyes and head.

"What is this place?" said the first man, the bald one.

"This's a little island south of Baron," said the other. "Village's named Agart. Kind of an out-of-the-way little place, if you ask me."

"Then why are we here?"

The bearded man shrugged. "I know a few people. Thought I'd ask about that stone."

_Stone? _I thought, straining my ears to hear the rest of the conversation.

"—a bit strange, if you ask me, the way he just kinda… switched over."

The bald man nodded. I wondered who they were talking about.

The bearded man was now looking back up the plank. "Suppose someone should tell them—" He jerked his head toward the interior of the ship. "—that we've landed. Might not be here long, but at least we get to stretch our legs a bit."

The bald man nodded. "I suppose they have much to talk about."

"I guess. Well, I don't blame them."

As if on cue, another person appeared at the top of the plank. She was blonde, her long hair tied into a ponytail and a long, white cape flowing down her back. She stepped delicately down the plank and then onto the grass, stretching her arms. "It's good to be free," she said to nobody in particular.

"Good morning to you, too, Rosa," the bearded man said.

Zach heard a sharp intake of breath to his right, and then Melody spoke. "I know that name. Rosa… Priestess Ayana used to speak of her…" She snapped her fingers. "That's it! She's Baron's head White Mage!"

"Baron?" I looked back at the ship. "That's why I recognize it… that's the ship we saw leave Baron, the one we tried to get onto, which means—"

Before I could finish my sentence, someone else appeared at the top of the ramp. He was wearing a long, sand-coloured cloak atop a suit of armour. His hair was white as a ghost and spilled down his back, and there was a crown perched atop his forehead. A long sword was strapped to his waist.

I turned to Melody, my heart pounding. "That isn't…?"

She looked at me sadly, and nodded.

I looked back, unsure of whether to believe my eyes. It couldn't be, it absolutely couldn't be… but it was. It was Cecil.

I realized I hadn't been listening; Rosa had said something, and Cecil was shaking his head. "He doesn't want to come out," he said. "I think we'd better leave him alone for a while. Where are we, Cid?"

"Agart," the bearded man replied. "I know a few people here we could prod for some answers."

"Agart?" repeated Rosa. "Isn't Agart the town that boasts all the time about their wishing well?"

"Something like that. Lot of hokey nonsense, if you ask me."

Rosa looked at Cecil. "I wonder… do you think that stone…?"

Cecil had descended to the bottom of the ramp by then. "It might be worth a try. I'm not sure I'd want to part with it that quickly, though. If we're wrong…"

"Then we'll be no better off than we would have been anyway," said Cid. "Come on, let's head on into the town, I could use a drink."

Still chatting, the group wandered their way toward the village, leaving me privately lost in confusion. So that was Cecil. That was the Holy Knight he had become. He looked so different. He looked as though he'd never once worn the suit of dark armour in which he had given the order to murder my father. I was almost sure it couldn't have been the same man, but there was no doubting that it was.

And then I thought about what else the group had said. Agart. The man named Cid had been right: it was nothing but a large island, which did not bode well for our passage off of it. I thought about going into the village to see if there were any boats that left from Agart, but with Cecil poking around, I didn't particularly want to be seen. Holy Knight or not, I still didn't trust him any farther than I could throw him.

Melody glanced at me. "Well? What are we going to do?"

I shook my head. "I don't know."

"You can still help him, you know. You can still offer—"

But I was shaking my head. "No. I won't do that."

"But, Zach…"

"No! I…" I sighed, calming myself. "I… I can't. And besides, I don't need his help." And I turned away from her gaze, knowing that I was lying.

She looked back to the ship, thankfully deciding not to press the matter. "Well, either way, we'll have to find a way off this island."

I thought about it for a moment, and then I grinned. "Well… there is one way…"

She glanced at me. "What?"

But I shook my head, still grinning. "Come on, it's now or never."

And before she could protest, I'd taken off toward the ship. I heard her call back to me, telling me to wait, and then she gave up and I heard her footsteps some distance behind me.

I slowed as I neared the ship, and she stopped next to me, panting slightly. "You – aren't – serious – are you?"

I nodded. "Why not? They'll find another way off the island."

She sighed. "Old habits die hard, huh?"

I ignored her and started up the plank. "Wait!" she called after me, hurrying to my side. "They said there was still someone aboard!"

"We can take care of him, whoever he is," I replied shortly.

"Zach, no!" She hurried around in front of me before I could head up the ramp. "This is going too far! I'm not going to steal Cecil's airship, it's downright--"

"If you're staying with me," I said warningly, giving her a meaningful look, "then you're coming."

"Zach, this is _wrong_!"

"So was killing my father." I then turned to climb up. "Come on, we'll need to find—"

My speech cut off abruptly as I looked ahead. Standing at the top of the ramp, looking almost as shocked as myself, was Kain.

I nearly fell backwards off of the plank in my haste to get away. "You!"

Kain strode down the plank, but it wasn't the same gait as before. It didn't have the same malevolence in it. Now, he walked as if defeated, humbled, and his face showed no malice, only genuine concern.

"Zacharias?" he said, nearing the bottom of the ramp. "What are you _doing_ here?!"

"What do you mean, what am I doing here? What are _you _doing here?!"

Kain glanced around himself, as if nervous that he would be seen by the wrong people. "Zach, you shouldn't be here. You should be back in Mysidia, or… or… somewhere. Somewhere safe!"

"Since when do you care about my safety?" I spat, anger boiling in my chest. "Last time I saw you, you tried to _kill_ me!"

Kain started to say something, and then stopped, letting the air out of his lungs in a sigh. "That… wasn't me. In fact, I fought hard so that I _wouldn't _kill you. I was… I was under Golbez's control. I thought you'd understood that."

I nodded, longing for the spear I had left behind in the tower. "How do I know you're not under his control now? How can I trust you?!"

He bowed his head. "I didn't think anyone ever would again… but I was hoping that you might understand."

I was about to retort again when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Zach," said Melody, "it's all right. It's… it's him."

I looked to her, and then back to Kain, and this time I looked right into his eyes. I could see remorse in them. I could see the slightest hint of terror. But there was none of the evil I had seen before. It seemed he really had broken free of Golbez's control.

I turned away, shaking my head. "Fine. Let's say I believe you. What are you doing here?"

"You already know the answer to that."

I glanced at him, and then toward the village into which Cecil and the others had disappeared. And then I looked back at Kain, anger fresh on my face. "Right. The Paladin."

My last word held so much malicious sarcasm that Kain flinched visibly. "Zacharias, I can understand why you're angr—"

"You didn't tell me!" Before had a chance to control myself, I was shouting. "You were in league with him the whole time and you didn't tell me the truth! You knew he killed my father!"

"I didn't know—"

"Liar! You're lying! You knew the whole time!"

"Will you be quiet and listen for a second?!" Kain had finally lost his patience, and the ferocity in his voice snapped me into silence. He sighed before he continued. "Zacharias, when we talked about… well, when we talked about it, I thought you knew that… that Cecil was the Dark Knight. It never occurred to me that you thought he was someone else."

_Kain had approached me, speaking more softly this time. "He is my ally," he said. "I swore as he did to bring down the kingdom of Baron. We've both committed atrocities against humanity in our lives, leaving us with a great deal of shame. But he is not an evil man."_

I shook my head, knowing he was right and loathing myself for it. Without looking at him, I said, "then tell me the truth. All of it."

"What truth?"

I looked at him again, speaking more softly. For once, all I wanted was to know. "About Cecil. About… about why."

He knew without asking that I was speaking of what he did to Mysidia. He looked at his boots for a moment, and then spoke. "Cecil and I are like brothers, Zacharias, you knew that."

"Yes…"

"Since both of us were orphans, when we were taken in by the king of Baron, we looked up to him as nothing less than a father. I like to think that it was skill alone that earned us our positions, but… I suppose the king wanted to see his… his two sons…" His voice cracked slightly. "… to see them succeed."

He took a deep breath. "I don't know when he was killed. All I know is that the man who sent Cecil to Mysidia was not the real king of Baron. But Cecil didn't know that. He'd been convinced that the Mysidian people were as violent and power-hungry as… as the rest of the world knew Baron was. It wasn't until after the raid, after everything happened… it wasn't until then that he realized how wrong he had been."

He turned and stared out toward the horizon as if looking for something. I couldn't say a word. "When he came back, he made the mistake of challenging the impostor king, asking why he'd had to do what he did. He was expelled from his command of the Red Wings and sent to Mist, and me along with him. We didn't know why," he added hastily as he saw the expression on my face. "We were told to deliver the ring as a gift. After it… after that happened, we—"

"I saw what happened," I said, recalling it vividly. "You tried to take Rydia! And you were arguing." I chuckled bitterly. "I bet you were talking him out of going back to Baron for more orders to kill."

Kain sighed again. "You didn't hear everything, Zacharias. After the ring set fire to the village, it wasn't Cecil who tried to defend what the king had done. It was me." My eyes widened in shock, and he nodded. "I know what I told you afterwards… I'd realized my mistake. But when I wanted to go back and simply ask the king what his reasons were, Cecil wanted to make him answer for what he had done."

"He convinced you to…"

Kain nodded again. "And then we saw Rydia and put two and two together. We hadn't killed her mother on purpose, but we couldn't just leave her in the middle of a burning village. We were going to take her somewhere safe."

And then I suddenly thought of something I hadn't yet realized. "Wait… where _is _Rydia? Is she still aboard the ship?"

The look on Kain's face made my heart sink into my feet. "Oh, no… please… she can't be—"

Kain looked down. "Cecil went with her to Kaipo, and then to Damycan – he arrived literally less than an hour after we did – and then to Fabul. They lost the Crystal, and Rosa was kidnapped by Golbez. They decided to go back to Baron by ship and find Cid, but on the way, the ship was attacked by a sea creature known as Leviathan."

I felt a cold dread. "And…?"

"And… Rydia fell in the ocean and… was swallowed by Leviathan."

I felt my eyes begin to fill with tears. I looked away, angrily wiping at my eyes. I barely knew the girl. Why was I crying? But inevitably more tears came, and all I could think about was Allana's body lying on the grass of her village. And now Rydia was gone, and it was all for nothing.

Behind me, Melody spoke. "Zach, you… never told me what happened to you after… I… I'm sorry."

I stared at my feet. I didn't want to speak.

There was a moment of morose silence.

And then Kain spoke again. "Do you hear something?"

His question pulled me forcibly out of my reverie, and I turned to him. "What?"

"Shh." He put a finger to his lips. I sighed irritably, but listened anyway. It was a few moments before I heard it: a very low rumbling sound, almost imperceptible but definitely there, growing steadily louder.

"What _is _that?" said Melody.

I shook my head. I could now feel the vibrations in the ground, and instinctively crouched, placing my hands firmly on the grass. Melody did the same, and Kain, after a moment, followed suit.

The earthquake I was expecting never came. Instead there came a series of concussive blasts from the mountain range, each one reverberating in my skull as if someone had held a gong up to my ears and bashed it with a bar of iron.

Over the ruckus, I tried to yell to Kain "what's going on?!" but I couldn't even hear myself. The blasts kept coming, and large chunks of rock began to fall to the ground nearby, along with cavalcades of dust. I covered my head with my hands as some broken bits of rock rained down upon me, and saw Kain roll out of the way of a particularly large one that had been aiming for his skull.

After a moment that seemed like an hour, the blasts stopped and the rumbling died away. I tentatively looked upward: the screen of dust had cleared, and everything was peaceful once more, except for the masses of chipped rock that now littered the grassy field. I stood carefully, ready to drop back down if I needed to, but nothing else came.

I turned to Kain, who had stood as well, thoughts of Rydia vanishing from my mind as I wondered aloud, "What was that? It sounded like something was blasting a hole in the mountains."

"I think that's exactly what happened," Kain said, glancing toward the village. "I suppose they found a use for that magma stone after all."

And then I remembered something I hadn't yet asked him. "Kain… how did you break free?"

He turned to look at me. "It was… well, it was Cecil. Golbez was keeping Rosa on the top floor of the tower-" Melody and I shuddered involuntarily as we thought about it. "-and blackmailed Cecil into getting him the Earth Crystal. When Cecil brought it and Golbez didn't hold up his end of the bargain—"

"It was naïve of him to think he would."

"Yes… anyway, an old man that was with them, I think they called him Tellah—"

"Sage Tellah," Melody said, nodding.

"Right. He said something about his daughter, and then challenged Golbez himself. He even went so far as to cast Meteo. It broke Golbez's spell over me but it killed him in the effort."

My eyes went wide, and Melody screamed. "No! Sage Tellah is… he's…?"

Kain nodded gravely. "I'm afraid so. A foolish thing to do, really. But we were fortunately still in enough time to rescue Rosa… we were almost too late…"

I fought through the lump in my throat. "Barbariccia…?"

"Dead." A look of utter satisfaction mixed with loathing crossed his face. "I performed the coup-de-grâce myself."

"And Golbez?"

Kain shook his head. "He was long gone when the tower fell."

My eyes flared. "No! That means he's gone, and with all the Crystals…!"

But Kain was shaking his head. "There are more. The magma stone I gave Cecil was given to me by Golbez for safekeeping. He said it would open the way to the Underground, and to the last Crystals."

Melody gasped. "You mean…"

Kain nodded. "The Crystals of Darkness."

I was utterly lost, but Melody was wringing her hands in mingled excitement and terror. "They exist! They really exist! Priestess Ayana always thought it was just a rumour!"

"So," I cut in, trying to put the puzzle together myself, "Golbez _doesn't _have all the Crystals?"

"No," said Kain. "There are still four more. But I imagine Golbez is already in the underground by now. He wouldn't have needed the magma stone to get there."

I twitched violently. "Then what are they waiting for?! We need to stop him!"

Melody looked sideways at me. "You mean, you'd—"

But Kain was staring at me, shaking his head, and there was a change in the way he looked at me. For a moment, it was almost like it had been back when I was his pupil, but now he looked at me almost the same way my father had when he'd found out I was practicing White Magic. "'We'? Are you crazy? You almost got yourself killed in the Tower of Zott and now you want to go and pick a fight with him again? No…" He turned away. "Not this time."

I looked at him in fury. "Excuse me?"

"Go home, Zacharias! It's where you belong!"

Before he'd even set foot on the ship's boarding ramp, I was standing in his way. "I wasn't asking _permission_, Kain! I'm coming whether you like it or not!"

He shook his head. "No, you aren't, Zacharias! You should be somewhere safe!" He sighed in exasperation. "I never should have taken you with me from Mist in the first place. It was too dangerous, I should have just left you in Kaipo."

"You would never have stopped all those soldiers in Damcyan without me!"

"You nearly got yourself _killed_! No." He pushed me out of the way as effortlessly as though I were a mere rag doll. "Not this time."

I stared up at him in fury. "Fine! _Fine_! Go, then! I don't need you or Cecil! I'll find him and stop him on my own!"

I could no longer see him, but I heard his weary, quiet answer: "Just go home."

I was left at a loss for words. After everything we had been through, after everything I had proved to him – proved to myself – he was going to leave me behind and stop me from making Golbez atone for the crimes he had committed.

I turned and started furiously away from the ship toward the water. "How can he… how _dare_ he…!"

"Zach…"

I turned to look again at Melody. She looked back, and there was a change in her, too. She looked like she was pondering something about me, staring inscrutably at me. "You'd have been willing to fight alongside Cecil?"

"I..." I didn't know how to answer. "I... I suppose I would have... not that I trust him..."

But that didn't seem to matter. "You really do want to stop Golbez, don't you? Not just for you, but... for everyone? For everything?"

Again, I didn't know how to answer. I wanted to say yes. But that was my old self, not the new me - the new me didn't care about anything but himself, the new me was ruthless... but then I remembered what Melody had said the night before. "You sound just like Golbez," she'd said. And I realized something: would I truly be any better than him if I were to lose the resolve I'd once had? Kain was alive, and was fighting, not for vengeance, but for his world. Cecil was fighting, too, and despite what he'd done, he wanted to fight as much as I did. And me...

I finally nodded. "Yes. But it doesn't seem to matter now, does it?" I looked resentfully at the ship.

"Zach... when we left Mysidia, you were ready to push past me to get to the Devil Road, and you nearly did. In Baron, twelve Elite Guards couldn't stop you from getting to the castle. And you and I escaped that Tower of… whatever it was called, when we were staring death in the face."

"And? What's your point?"

She was now grinning smugly. "When have you ever let anyone stop you before?"

I started to ask what she meant, but then I followed her gaze and saw what she was looking at and grinned, as in my state of anger I hadn't seen it: a hatch, identical to the one on the Red Wings' ship, with an anchor protruding from within the ship.

I looked at her in surprise. "So does this mean…"

She smiled back. "Maybe you've made me an idealist, Zacharias."

"So you're with me?"

"Let's get him."

Without another word, the two of us dashed to the ship, slipped through the hatch and were out of sight. Less than fifteen minutes later, hidden in the darkness, we felt the ship lurch and begin to lift into the air, unknowingly carrying us to the underground, and the Crystals of Darkness.


End file.
